The Sounds Of Rain
by Loveless87
Summary: Jade goes to the 7th Heaven and becomes quick friends with the AVALANCHE gang, but she's got a secret. What will one night in a cemetery do to a delivery boy and a lonely girl, will sparks fly or will the rain put out the small flame between them CloudXOC
1. We Can Cure You!

**I hope you enjoy my story, this is my first FF one, so if I do anything wrong, just tell me in a review, or message me at my profile!**

**Disclaimer: i do not own FF or any of it's characters**

The Sound Of Rain

Chapter 1: We Can Cure You!

I felt like I was in an ice-box, that's how cold I was. I wore a long leather jacket that went down to about the backs of my knees, it wasn't done up at the moment so the wind blew in at me and my black collared shirt was visible underneath.

I also had black leather gloves on, they reached up a bit past my wrists, I was wearing very loose fitting jeans, they were about two or three sizes way to big for me, and the only thing keeping them up was the tight leather belt I was wearing. Black leather boots that reached about mid calf.i had amessanger bag on my hip that held some clothes in it and more bandages, it pressed aginst my left hip, opposite of the side with my sword.

I could feel an instance throbbing sensation crawling up from my lower back to my jaw line, the large black stain that covered my skin was the reason for the burning I was feeling, the reason I always seemed to be in pain.

The wind bit at my face sharply, the hood over my head only keeping my ears warm, and just barely see too, the bangs of my light brown hair was blowing into my face, covering my eyes so that I couldn't really see as to where the hell I was walking.

The throbbing seemed to increase as the cold night air ate at the black stain, seeing as how my leather jacket wasn't all that warm. There weren't a lot of people walking around and most of the people that were all seemed to head into a bar that was called 7th Heaven.

I quickly made my way to the bar, seeking warmth, and following a group of people inside. I heard the close behind me as I looked around the bar, it was packed. There was a girls running around serving people drinks before scrambling back to the counter, then there was a man with blond spiked hair behind the counter serving the people at the bar.

I couldn't actually find any pace to sit, so I just settled for standing by the door leaning against the wall. My hand found its way to my neck and I gripped the place where I knew all to well where the growing bruise was, but was hidden away by the high collar of my shirt.

After a while I found a free stool was open at the bar and made my way over, taking the place before any other could. I looked on either side of me and noticed that they were both men and drunk out of their minds.

'_I don't think either of them will notice.'_ I thought before I reached up to the zipper and zipped down the collar of the shirt, but didn't go past the crook of my neck.

"Hey!" I flinched slightly at the loud voice to my right, making me look of to the drunken fool. The guy was staring hard at me, like he thought that if he concentrated hard enough he could see 

through my hood. I just looked at him and raised an eyebrow, "Why don't you take off that hood of yours, I want to see what my neck wife looks like."

I nearly gapped at what he had said, he had to be drunk, that or had a death wish, I retained myself from grabbing the sword from my hip and threatening him, I wouldn't kill him, yet, but if he pissed me off enough I might just slip up…

"Hey, there was a girl in the corner looking for you." I said as I hid my face in the shadows of my hood.

"Oh!" he called as he spun around in his stool, only to loose his balance and fall face first onto the ground. A couple of his buddies got up grumbling and carried him out of the bar, much to my relief, and I couldn't help but let a chuckle slip out.

"That was funny, I need to keep that one in mind." A high female voice said from behind me, and I was just about to look over my shoulder when she sat down on the now empty stool next to me.

She had black hair with a black bandana wrapped across her forehead, Her arms were bare from the small top she was wearing and bare legs because of the tiny shorts she had on. She was wearing tanned lased boots that reached her knees.

That guy is always here, thinks he can get any girl he want. I should remember that one." She said as she turned entirely to face me.

"Um…ok," I mumbled, still watching her.

"My name's Yuffie, what's yours?" Yuffie was excited and nearly bouncing in her seat.

"Luna, Luna Jade, but just call me Jade." I said as I continued to inspect her, my eyes finally landing on the blade that she had strapped to her back.

"Nice blade." I said as I eyed her weapon, Yuffie glanced back over her shoulder before turning back to me with a smile on her face.

"I know right?" she laughed happily, I smirked at her, I liked this girl. "Do you fight?" she asked with curiosity, and a lot of excitement.

"Yep." I said as I pushed aside my leather jacket, so she could see my blade, the Nexus Onyx, strapped to my hip, it was a gift from a friend, they were always saying how I needed a better blade sp that had made me one.

"Cool, so you can fight, but what about your materia level?" Yuffie asked, I was about to answer when someone came over and joined in the conversation.

"Yuffie, who's this?" It was the same woman who had been running around serving the drinks when I had first come in.

"Oh, this is Jade," Yuffie said pointing at me, "And this is Tifa, she owns the bar." Yuffie said as she then turned to point at Tifa.

I lifted my hand to my hood, it was getting annoying cause I couldn't really see what other people looked like while I was wearing it, and slipped it back wars until it fell from my head. My light brown hair tumbled free, sense I usually had it tucked in the hood.

I looked over at Tifa and Yuffie and they both visible froze. I knew why, they were both looking at my Mako eyes. Yuffie was openly gapping at me and Tifa was beginning to breath harder.

"I have a feeling the two of you know." I said quietly, turning away from them. People were always afraid of me because they thought I might spread it to them, so these two were just the same. I zipped the collar of my shirt back up, hiding the bandages, Yuffie seeing this and gasping. I got to my feet and turned to leave, but only managed like two steps.

"Wait!" Yuffie called as she cot hold of my shoulder but sadly it was my bad shoulder and I gasped out in pain, causing her to release me immediately. I only then realized that there were a few people left in the bar two men in suits by the pools table, and another in a red coat leaning against the wall watching, Tifa had now gone over to the blond man behind the bar.

I began to walk towards the exit again, but Yuffie called out again, stopping me dead in my tracks this time, and I was only a few feet from the door.

"We can cure you!"

The bar went silent, everyone inside, which wasn't that many people, stopping what they were doing and turning to looked from me to Yuffie. I turned slightly to look at her again, she was standing now and her face didn't hold the same excitement as before.

"It's incurable." I said as I was about to turn away again, but the throbbing in my shoulder grew and shot down my back, making my face pained and a gasp escape my lips. I could barely hear Tifa say something from over by the counter, but I wasn't able to understand what she had said, 

because darkness surrounded me, clouding my mind. My hands instinctively holding my neck with both hands.

Yuffie's POV

I could see the pain written all over her face as she clutched her neck, where I had seen the bandages earlier. I could see more then just pain as she gasped out, but also fear. I could clearly see her Mako eyes become slits as her geostigma acted up. Still grabbing her neck, she began to double over in pain.

Before anyone else could move, Cloud had jumped over the counter and ran to Jade. He cot her before she hit the hard ground, and laid her down as gently as possible, resting her head on his lap as he sat down as well every quickly rushed over to the two near the door.

"On her neck, the stigma's on her neck." I said in a rush, leaning over Jade. Cloud gently unzipped the color of her shirt, bit stopped at the collar-bone. I could see the bandages continuing on after than and began to pull the zipper down further, until her entire shirt was hanging open. My eyes widened when I saw that her abdomen and torso were also bandaged.

"Holy shit!" Reno yelled when he saw the bandages as well, everyone knew that she had Geostigma from the moment I called out to her about the cure.

"How far has her Geostigma spread?" Tifa asked, more to herself then to any of us. Cloud used a free hand to lightly unravel the bandages, starting with her neck. The Geostigma went from her jaw line, before it spread down to her collar bone, covering her shoulder, then disappearing behind her back.

"Look! She's waking up!" I called when I saw her eyes flutter slightly, moments later her eyes open sleepily, showing the cat like eyes. Her eyes shut again tightly as she hissed slightly, grabbing for something quickly to hold onto. And the closest thing was the hand that cloud was using to unravel her bandages.

Cloud visibly winced slightly when she squeezed his hand, her teeth clenched. Her breathing was speeding up slightly, and I could see her other fist clenching her leather jacket tightly, seeking something to hold onto as well.

"Cloud, help her." I begged as I watched her, then saw that the hilt of her sword was digging into her side, which was pretty painful by the looks of it. I quickly loosened the blade from her hip and placed it to the side.

"I can't this has to pass on its own, but I will take her to the church in the morning." Cloud said as she could feel her strength subsiding slightly as she loosened her grip, her face slipping into a more peaceful expression. "There, it's passed." Cloud said quickly, before lowering her hand to her side and inspecting his.

"That looked like it hurt." Reno said from behind him.

"Let's see how you react to Mako strength." Cloud hissed beck, before looking back down at Jade. Her breathing was normal again and Cloud sighed in relief. "I'll take her to the guest room and then we'll go to the church in the morning when she wakes up."

"Why not now?" Tifa asked as she watched closely to the thing happening around her.

"Because it's below zero outside, and the cold doesn't much help her out." Cloud said as he picked Jade up in his arms bridal style, making sure he had a good grip on her and there was no possible way he would drop her.

"I'll get the door, but you have to lead the way!" I said as I followed him up to the house part of the bar, making sure that the doors were open for him and bringing Jade's sword with me. He made it to the room that was for any guests they might have and waited patiently for me to open it.

"Thanks Yuffie." He said as he stepped into the room, lying Jade down on the bed, resting her head on the pillow and pulling the blankets from the other side over top of her, sense she was lying on top of the other side.

"How can you carry her so easily, you make it look like you're holding up a feather?" I asked as I looked down at him as he laid her down, placing her sword onto in the chair at the end of the bed.

"She's actually really light, like she's doesn't eat." Cloud said as he straightened again, looking down at her before turning to Yuffie. "You should be leaving soon, it'll be mid-night soon, and she's going to be out for a while, just come back in the morning." Cloud said as he made his way over to the door, but stopped and turned to me, "What's her name anyway?"

"Her name's Luna Jade, but she says she likes begin called Jade." I replied as I remembered when I had first met her at the bar, it was because I saw her bandages that I really came over to talk to her, just so happened to be a coincidence that that drunken idiot was hitting on her too.

**Please R&R!**

**I look forward to reading your reviews!**


	2. See, There's Nothing Left

**Yay! Chapter 2!**

**Disclaimer: i do not own Final Fantasy or any of the characters, but i do own Jade!**

The Sound Of Rain

Chapter 2: See, There's Nothing Left

The next time I woke up I couldn't focus on anything I didn't know where I was and I my head was pounding so hard it hurt to try and remember. I could feel cool air nipping at the stigma on my neck and began to wonder why it was uncovered, I remember bandaging it the morning.

Then everything came rushing back to me, Yuffie from the bar, when she a Tifa had seen the bandages and my eyes. Then when I tried to leave I had blacked out. But what had happened after that, I can't remember.

'_We can cure you!'_

That's what Tifa had called out, that was the last thing I was able to hear, at least I think that's what she had said, I'm not quite sure. So the cure really is in Midgar, now I can finally get rid of this damn curse. But will I actually do it, I've been thinking about for some time now, about what'll happen when I actually do find the cure. But now that I have found it, what'll I do next, can I actually try to live my life afterward. Everything I've done up until now has been to try and find a way to get rid of the geostigma, but what'll I do with my life sense I don't have to look anymore.

"I can't." I said to myself out loud. I can't cure it, I won't cure it.

I shot up right in the bed I was in, doing my best to ignore the protests of my muscles. I looked around the dark room, I could see perfectly fine. The Mako in my veins allows my senses to become heightened, as well as other traits. The room was simple, bathroom door, closet door, window, bed, desk, nightstand. Wow, these people must really not have a lot of guests.

I slid from the bed, my boots were still on so I had to extra careful in stealth. I looked down to find that my shirt was unzipped and I was still wearing my jacket. The bandages were beginning to come loose and slip off, so I quickly pulled them back around my chest tightly and then did them up to my jaw-line, once again hiding the stigma. I zipped my shirt up and left my coat undone, looking around the room I saw the Nexus Onyx on the end of the bed.

I quickly tied the blade back on my right hip, making sure that the knot was secure by I could still undue it later on. The door wasn't locked, but the window was. I stepped out into the hall of the place I was in, I looked pretty normal, just like where anyone would stay.

I walked toward the stairs that lead down to the bottom floors, making sure that my steps were light and I didn't alert anyone that I was up moving around. When I got through the door at the bottom of the stairs I could see that it was the bar that I had collapsed in. They must have an apartment or something in the back.

I could see the door on the far side of the room, and made a bee-line for it, not caring if I was as quiet as before or not. I was less then three feet out the door when I heard something behind me and quickly drew the Nexus Onyx from its sheath, swinging my blade around to my follower. The sound of clashing metal was loud and my eyes met with other Mako eyes.

The man from the bar, the blond with spiky hair that was behind the counter. He had a sword in a tight grip, blocking my blade from cutting his head clean off, and I could tell that he was rather taken off guard from the look in his eyes. He was wearing a pare of dark blue sweat pants and a loose fitting tank-top, he was wearing a pair of boots that looked like black leather.

"I'm not here to fight you." He said calmly, but I never gave up and kept my sword pressed firmly to his, making sure that he couldn't press forward with his.

"Why should I believe you, I don't even know you." My voice was just as calm, but a bit more icy.

"I live here, I'm friends with Yuffie and Tifa." He said, his eyes narrowing into mine.

I hesitated slightly, but still pulled my blade away, taking a few steps back from him. He lowered his sword before putting it away behind his back in its holder. My eyes narrowed as he held his hands in front of himself in a sign of peace.

"I'm not here to fight you," He repeated, lowering his hands back to his sides.

"So you've said, so what do you want?" I asked with venom in my tone.

"I want to help you, I can cure your Stigma." He said as he took a cautious step forward, I held my sword in front of me again and he stopped, holding his hands up again.

"Well I don't want you to," I said, and his eyes widened slightly. I continued, "I've been looking for a cure for so long, and I thought that I would never find it, that I was going to die from this damn thing. I was fine with that, I had excepted that I was probably going to die because of this, I was ready to end my life." I said as I lowered my sword, but didn't sheath it.

"You're…But you look like you're only twenty years old!" he said in shock, looking at me with his wide Mako eyes.

"I've lived with this illness for so many years, I don't think I know how to live without it." I said in a pathetic voice, a sad smile coming to my face. My eyes widened when I felt the stigma flare again, and dropped the sword from my hands, the sound of it hitting the ground ringing in my ears as I fell to one knee.

"Jade!" the blond called as he ran over to me, I could feel him place a hand on my good shoulder and kneel beside me. "I thought that I was ready to die as well when I had the stigma, but I was so glad when I had finally cured it and was able to live without the thought of my own death on my shoulders." He said quietly beside me, and I looked over at him, my eyes switching from slits to normal and back again.

"But I-"Pain, searing burning pain. A cry escaped my lips as I gripped my shoulder. "I can't." I said as I reached for my swords hilt. He saw the movement and I saw him reach for his sword, as though he was expecting for me to attack him. "I won't." I said as I used the sword to help me stand, then sheathed it.

"So you would die without even trying?" he asked as he released his hand from his own swords hilt and let it fall to his side.

"It's my life, not yours." I chocked out, and turned away from him, beginning to walk away from him.

"So you're saying that you have nothing left to live for, no one that you would want to protect or be there for?" His voice called from where he stood, still outside the bar. His words made me stop and think.

"Hey, what's your name anyway?" I asked as I glanced over my shoulder.

"Cloud Strife." He said simply, still watching me.

"Well Cloud, I have something that I have to show you, if you're so intent on trying to keep me alive. Meet me at the cemetery." I said as I took off running, the last thing I saw of Cloud was the look of shock and surprise written all over his face.

I stood outside the gate to the cemetery, I could feel the cold wind eating away at me through my coat. The air was moist though, like it was going to rain. The skies were clouded over, the moon no longer visible in this cold night.

I could hear the motor of a bike and I looked up to see one heading this way, it's lights shining in my eyes as it came closer, I looked away to as not to be blinded and the bike stopped in front of me, showing the rider as none other then Cloud Strife.

He had dressed in a pare of baggy black jeans, there was a sleeve on his left arm but his right one was bear I raised an eyebrow at that but ignore the impulse to ask. He pulled the goggles away from his eyes and the fell to around his neck. He still had his sword strapped to his back and now wore blank leather gloves to cover his hands.

"Nice bike." I said as I pushed myself away form the gate I had been leaning on.

"Fenrir." Cloud said as he walked toward me, turning off Fenrir's motor.

"Nice name." I said before I turned around and walked through the gate to the cemetery, it was pitch black out but Cloud and I could see easily as to where we were going.

"So why are we in a cemetery?" Cloud asked from behind me a few minutes later.

"Cause then no one will hear you scream when I kill you." I said in a taunting voice, then chuckled when I hear him shift the grab his sword. "Relax, we're almost there." I said as I walked past more and more tomb stones, before stopping and turning to face Cloud fully.

He had one hand on the hilt of his sword and I sighed. I pulled Nexus Onyx from its sheath and threw it into the ground beside him. He looked down in surprise before his eyes came back up to meet mine.

"There, happy, I'm was just kidding. God, when did you loose your sense of humor?" I asked as I turned toward the grave that I had stopped at.

_Here lies Maria Jade_

_Mother, Wife, Daughter._

_Date of death: unknown_

_Date of birth: unknown_

_Age: unknown_

……………………

_Here lies Luke Jade_

_Father, Husband, Son._

_Date of death: unknown_

_Date of Birth: unknown_

_Age: unknown_

……………………

_Here lies Arianna Jade_

_Sister, Daughter, Loved One_

_Date of death: unknown_

_Date of birth: unknown_

_Age: unknown_

"This is my family, and the only ones I had every really cared about, or that cared for me." I said as I looked down at the grave of my baby sister, then kneeled down and ran my hand over the name engraved in it. "She always said that she wasn't afraid, because I would be there to protect her, well that ones out the window." I said as I let my hand fall to run over her age. _Unknown_.

"This…is you're family?" Cloud asked, he was now standing closer, but still giving me my space, which I was grateful for. I may be a total hard ass when it came to wanting someone to back of, but I wasn't a cold emotionless person, I still felt pain and sorrow like any normal human being.

"Yeah, you want to see something really funny?" I asked as I turned to looked at him, but kept my hand placed on my baby sisters grave, kneeling in front of it. He raised an eyebrow at my mood change and I motioned my head to the grave beside him. "Read it." He looked down at the grave and I could see his face visibly pale, before taking a step back from the stone.

_Here lies Luna Jade_

_Sister, Daughter, Hero_

_Date of death: unknown_

_Date of birth: unknown_

_Age: unknown_

"Now how's that for a surprise?" I asked as I looked at my grave. "The story was that the house cot fire, and everyone was inside, and the whole family perished in the flames. Bullshit." I said as I got to me feet.

"How-Why is there a grave with your name on it?" Cloud asked as he turned to me, his eyes narrowed, his voice serious.

"Because, Hojo thought that all of his experiments had died in testing, but I had survived it, but only me." I said as I scowled at the grave. "When I first woke up, I was in a coffin, and I was below our feet now. Let me tell you, it was not easy getting out of that one." I said as I folded my arms over my chest and grinned at Cloud, but he just scowled at me.

"Why do you keep doing that?"

"Doing what?"

"Hiding behind humor, I know you're hurting just for being here. I could see it in your eyes when you stood over your sisters grave, it's killing you but you just keep hiding your pain behind jokes and sarcasm!" He all but yelled in my face, my eyes widened as I just stared at him for a moment, before all hell broke loose when I found my voice...

**That's chapter 2!**

**Chapter 3 should be up soon, and if i might have gotten any info wrong, just tell me in a review, or send me a message in my profile!**


	3. Tears And Rain

**Chapter 3! I hope you all like it!**

**Disclaimer: i do not own Final Fanstay or any of the characters, but i do own Jade!**

The Sound Of Rain

Chapter 3:

"What the hell do you know! You don't know what I've been through!" My hands were balled into fists at my sides, my face full of furry and my eyes full of hatred. "Ever sense I was born my life had been a living hell, everything goes wrong for me, so don't tell me what to do, because now, I can do whatever the hell I want!"

"So you think you own the world now! Just because you've lost your family that you get anything in life for free, well you don't! And you need a serious wake up call if you think that!" Cloud's voice rose with mine, his eyes becoming dangerously close to becoming slits.

"Shut up! I'm going to die any way so why not let it be in peace!" I grabbed onto Cloud's shirt and shook him slightly, glaring at him and feeling a prickling in my eyes. "I can say all the jokes I want, say whatever the hell I want with sarcasm and I don't have to explain myself to you!" Little did I know that in my furry and anger, tears that had been blocked up had began to flow down my cheeks, burning my eyes.

I pushed Cloud away from me again, making him stumble a couple of paces back, and I fell to the ground at my grave, my back pressed against the tomb stone. My face was buried in my hands and my elbows were resting on my knees. I tried to get the tears to stop, the pain to stop, but I was crying for everything now.

My geostigma was hurting again, so I cried from physical pain, my heart was breaking from being so close to my family again, so I cried from heart ache, and my mind was set on over drive cause I had just gone through the roof because of Cloud, so I was crying in emotional pain.

A flash of bright light came from all around me, soon followed by a loud crack of thunder that sounded around us. I could barely resister when I began to feel the rain pelt down hard on me, it seemed that the heavens were on my side for once in my damned life. My clothes were beginning to stick to me and I pulled my now very uncomfortable leather jacket off and threw it to the ground away from me, I didn't care if it was freezing cold out, I couldn't feel it right now anyway.

I didn't know when he had stepped up closer to me, but now I could feel his warm muscled arms around me, my face being buried in his chest. My hands fell limp into my lap as I just buried my face in his chest and cried. For years I had wanted someone to hold me, like how my mom and dad had done to comfort me when I was scared or upset, or the way I use to hold my baby sister all those times she had cried herself to sleep in the lab.

My head was beginning to hurt like crazy, a huge migraine on its way. My eyes were so blurry from the tears that I couldn't see clearly, and all of my senses had been dulled from my pain. I guess I fell unconscious after that, cause I had no idea what happened after Cloud had pulled my to him.

Clouds POV

Broken. That was the only thing that came to mind when I saw her by her own grave, crying like she was literally being ripped apart from the inside out, starting with her heart. Her body was shaking like crazy and her brown hair stuck to her face from her tears, and the rain that poured down onto us.

My heart seemed to stop and before I knew what the hell I was doing I had already sat at her side, leaning again her tomb stone, and brought her close to my body. Her now bare arms were freezing cold, and there were shivers running all along her body.

Her whole body suddenly relaxed and I knew that she had just passed out, her body had taken in to much stress and with the amount of emotions she had just experienced, it wasn't a very big surprise for her mind and body to shut down like that. I drew her closer to me as her shivered grew more and more intense. I pulled my phone out of my pocket and quickly punched in the house number. After only two rings I heard Tifa's voice.

"Hello, Cloud?" Her voice was worried, panicked.

"Yeah, it's me." Cloud said into the phone.

"Thank god, I was worried sick! Where are you, do you know where Jade is, she's not in her room." She said in a rush.

"She's fine, she's here with me, but she passed out and I can't take her back on my bike in this rain, call the others and come here, there's something you need to see." Cloud said into his new phone.

"Ok, where are you guys?" Tifa asked and Cloud could hear Marlene's voice in the back ground, asking about him and where he was. "Cloud's fine, go back to bed Marlene."

"We're at the cemetery." Cloud said calmly, "Far in the back, bring a blanket ok?" Cloud asked as he rubbed a hand up and down one of Jade's arms, trying his best to warm her with the friction.

"Sure, we'll be there as soon as possible." Tifa said before hanging up, not even bothering to ask about why we were in a cemetery.

And sure enough, soon Cloud could hear the voices of the others through the rain. He could see the lights far in the distance from the two trucks that they had driven here. Another flash of lightning and a crack of thunder and Cloud could see that Vincent , who had finally gotten a phone, was leading the others toward him, Yuffie and Tifa behind him and then Cid and Barrett in the back.

Another body shaking shiver ran through Jade and I continued to try and warm her as best as possible.

Vincent reached us before the others, but he only gazed at us for a moment before he turned to look at the grave behind us, and his red eyes widened when he saw the name on the grave. _Luna Jade_.

"Cloud! What are you two doing out here, and what's wrong with Jade!?" Yuffie yelled when she reached us, her hands on her hips.

"She brought me here, and showed me the graves. Look at them, and read everything on them." I said in a cool voice, now calmed down from when Jade and I had practically been ready to kill the other, now I was glad she had thrown her sword away from her reach.

I glanced over and saw that her thick sword was still in the ground where she had left it, it shinned and flashed every time the lightning lit the cemetery, and then everything darkened again and it just became the clean silver color again.

"Cloud, are these Jade's parent's graves?" Tifa asked as she looked at her mothers tombstone. I simply nodded my head.

"And her baby sisters as well." I said as I thought for a moment before speaking again, "Theirs is also...her grave." I said clearly, and everyone ceased movement.

"What you talking about spiky?" Barrett asked as he looked down at me, the rain water washing over his face. I moved to the side slightly, pulling Jade's limp body into my lap, and everyone had a clear view of the tombstone that was meant for Jade.

"She has a tombstone?" Tifa asked as she placed a hand over her mouth.

"She was an experiment of Hojo's, her whole family was. Something tells me that's how and why her Geostigma is so bad." I said as I stood from the soaked and muddy ground, holding Jade in my arms carefully. "Her family all died during the experiments, and Hojo thought that she had died as well, so he buried her and her family, and Jade got out of the coffin. Don't ask me how," I quickly said when I saw Yuffie open her mouth, then quickly shut it, "but after that she's been trying to find a cure for her Geostigma." I said as I shifted Jade's weight slightly and retrieved her coat off the ground. Jade shivered again and her whole body shook.

"Wow! She must be freezing!" Yuffie said when she saw Jade shake, her eyes widening.

"Let's get her back to the bar, you can tell us the rest after we get back." Cid suggested as he got up from looking at one of the graves. Everyone nodded and I began to make my way back to the trucks, then turned when I reached Jade's back.

"Can one of you bring her sword?" I asked as Cid walked over and pulled the blade from the moist dirt, then stumbled slightly.

"This things heavy!" he said as he brought the blade up and examined it. I turned back to the path and once again began to walk off to the gates where the trucks and my bike were parked. Jade's arms were hanging limp as her sides as I carried her, making my way away from her parent's graves.

Cid ran ahead of me when I got to one of the trucks and opened the door, placing Jade's blade under one of the seats, then getting in himself. I handed him Jade as carefully as possible and he laid her down on the back seats.

Tifa came up after that and pulled a two blankets out that I had asked her to bring, tucking one under Jade's head as a pillow and the other tucked tightly around her to try and warm her. I headed to Fenrir while Yuffie and Barrett got into the other truck and Vincent used his own method of travelling to get home.

Jade's POV

I felt like I was rocking slightly, and I knew I was being carried by the arms that I could feel holding me up. My head was still pounding like crazy and my body was shaking from the cold. My brown hair was totally soaked and my teeth were chattering.

"Cloud, she's waking up." I recognized Yuffie's voice. So Cloud was the one carrying me, and Yuffie was there, sense when.

"Jade, are you awake?" Tifa, that's got to be Tifa.

"W-what?" Oh my god! Was that my voice, there's no way. I sound so…beaten.

"You passed out at the Cemetery, we're back at the bar."Cloud. He sounded upset, but why. What exactly happened after I had passed out?

I opened my eyes to see that my head was lying on Cloud's shoulder, my face buried in the crook of his neck. He smells nice…WAIT! WHERE THE FUCH DID THAT COME FROM!

"What'd I miss?" I asked as I looked around, we were in the bar room and Cloud was standing still now.

"Nothing much, Cloud called us to come and pick you up, and here we are." Tifa said as she stood a few feet in front of us.

"You all know don't you?" I asked, they had to know about my tombstone, and my family, and the experiments. Cloud and his big mouth.

"Yes, we're sorry." Yuffie said as she smiled sadly, sympathy etched all over her face.

I groaned and buried my face back in Clouds neck, "You weren't supposed to find out." I said, into the collar of Cloud's shirt. Closing my eyes once again.

"Hey Jade, I could lend you some clothes and you can stay here to rest for the night." Tifa said as she smiled over at me.

"I have some clothes, they should be in my bag, where is my bag?" I asked as I looked toward the bar, wondering if I had put it down or something.

"It's up in the room you woke up in." Yuffie said happily, her sad smile replaced with a happy one, probably glad to hear that I was staying. She was beginning to grow on me, she was about as mature as my seven year old sister.

"Ok," I pulled myself from Clouds arms and put my feet on the ground, but held onto the sleeve on his left arm, so that I could balance myself. I then turned to Yuffie and Tifa and smiled, now more awake and feeling like my old self. "Lead the way!"

I tried to take one step but my legs were totally numb and I stumbled, but an arm wrapped around my waist before I could fall to the floor, again. I looked over my shoulder to see Cloud's face a few inches from mine.

"Uh, thanks…" I said as I straightened up, and tried again, but only got the same outcome as the first time.

"Maybe Cloud should carry you." Tifa suggested with a small smile, and then turned to look at Cloud over my shoulder. Before I even had time go get my say in, I was off my feet and being carried to the upper floors.

"Thanks again." I mumbled to Cloud as he carried me, but all I got in response was a nod.

Cloud entered a room that I recognized to be the one I woke up in, and sure enough, there was my messenger bag, hanging on the back of the chair at the desk. Cloud put me on my feet and I used the bed to stumble over to my bag. I could hear Cloud walking away and I turned to him.

"Wait Cloud!" he glanced over his shoulder before he turned to face me again, showing me that I had his attention. "Thanks for letting me vent." I said quietly, he raised an eyebrow at me and I smirked, "I guess I just needed to scream at someone to help me feel better." I said to him, I could see him grin slightly as he turned and walked from the room, closing the door behind him.

**Ta-da! all done for chapter 3, i should have 4 out pretty soon! don't forget to Review!**


	4. Letting Go Of The Past

**Yay! i finsished Chapter 4! **

**Disclaimer: i do not own Final Fantasy, to bad...**

The Sound Of Rain

Chapter 4: Letting Go Of My Past…

I felt much better after I had slept last night, or at least the rest of last night. It was still raining out but it wasn't as cold, it was at least 15 outside. The clouds outside were a deep grey, and it looked like the storm was yet to go away.

I got out of my bed at the sound of my thunder, I loved storms, but after what happened last night I don't think I'll be going to a cemetery at night any time soon. I could hear the rain begin to pour down lightly onto the glass of the window. The slight lapping sounds calming me as my mind began to reel, remembering everything of last night.

I put on a pair of shorts that went to about mid-thigh, changing from the old bandages that had been wrapped all around my upper body into a clean set. I got out a clean top, it was a zip up vest with a hood, a deep blue, but not as dark as navy blue. It had a low cut collar, so it would show off the bandages on my chest a lot more.

I pulled my hair up into a high pony tail, so that now it only looked like it reached my mid back. I just kept my earrings in, not bothering to change them or anything, but leaving them as the sapphire studs that I had been wearing for a little while now.

I looked around for my sword and found only the sheath, I took out the sash that I used to tie it to my waist and changed it. So now it wasn't tied to my waist, but strapped to my back, the silver sash running across my chest. I looked around the room I had be told to stay in, before I remembered that I had passed out and it was still stuck in the ground at the cemetery.

"Damn it." I swore to myself as I walked out the door, keeping my voice down. I stepped into the bar and looked around, no one there.

"Morning, glad to see you're finally up." I turned around to face Tifa, and she looked like she had just come out of the kitchen that was behind the bar.

"Uh…morning." I said awkwardly as I looked around more.

"Oh! Hey we have your sword if you want it now!" Tifa said happily and I looked over to her.

"You do?"

"Yeah, Cloud told us to bring it back sense you were kind of out and his hands were full at the moment, he was carrying you. But come on and I'll show you where it is." She explained and turned around, heading back upstairs. I followed her silently and looked around the house a little more, glancing in the kitchen as we passed.

"What time is it any ways?" I asked as I looked up at Tifa.

"Almost 11:30." She replied, not even looking back at me. "Here we are, Cloud has it in his room." She said and stepped in into another room. The room was simple, the sheets on the bed were a kind of dark grey color and the curtains were black. A dresser on the far side and a closet, there was a second door as well that I just guessed to be the bathroom.

My sword was under the window leaning against the wall, there was a folded towel under the blade, probably so it didn't make dents or huge scratches in the floor. I walked over to it had reached for it with my right hand, before removing it from the towel and lifting it to examine it.

"How can you lift that so easily, even Cid said that was heavy." Tifa said as she watched me closely.

"Mako, remember." I said as I turned to her, she took one look at my eyes and knew just what I meant. I reached behind me and placed the sword in its sheath without even having to see what I was doing after having so many times to practice, I was use to doing so.

"Are you going somewhere, cause I want you to meet everyone, they're coming over later." Tifa said from behind me.

"Don't worry, I'm not running off on you, but I am running. I like the rain, the sounds of a storm, so I thought I would go out running, just for a little while." I said as I turned to her, my boots loud on the hard wood floor of Clouds bedroom.

"Then why bring your sword?"

"I've had a lot of times in the past where I've regretted not bringing my sword, after that I always try to have it with me." I said as I looked over my shoulder at where the hilt of my sword could be seen. "I'm going get going, I should be back before 4." I yelled over my shoulder as I ran from the room, making my way to the bars exit.

When I got outside, the rain was a bit heavier, and I could clearly see that it was just going to get worse. I took off at a run toward the ruins, not really know my way around them or anything, but I just like to go there every sense I got to Midgar, it was somewhere where no one else went.

My clothes were almost entirely soaked when I got to the area of the ruins, and I slowed my run to a jog, before slowing to a walk. My feet drug slightly on the ground and my boots were covered in mud. The sweat that had been on my body just seemed to wash away with the rain, and the cold temperature outside kept me cool.

I stopped when I spotted a church a little while ahead of me, it looked like it could still be stable, but it was old and falling in. The doors were opened and then I noticed something that was under some old wood, that looked like it was being used as a kind of shelter. There was Fenrir, under the small roof that was made from an old ruined building, out of the rain.

Was Cloud in the church, and why? I stepped closer and looked around more as I gained ground toward the church. There was more and more ruins, large buildings still stood in some places and others were totally blown apart, nothing but dirt under our feet.

I took a single step into the old church and was forced to draw my blade.

The sound of clashing metal filled the old church and I looked into Clouds blue Mako eyes, he seemed surprised to see me to say the least. His hair looked a bit damp, but was still up and spiked as always, his clothes were also wet, but much wetter then his hair was. He relieved the pressure on his weapon and stepped back, letting my lower the Onyx(shorter name for Nexus Onyx, just so you know)and remained where I was.

"Well hello to you too, sunshine." I said as I kept my sword out, not daring to put it away in case he wanted to continue his little welcoming.

"What are you doing here?" he sounded more curious then angry or anything, so I just put him attacking me off as an instinct of his.

"Well, if you must know I was going to a jog and I came here." I said as I looked around, then spotted an odd looking pool at the far end of the church. "For some reason I just felt like I had to come here, it was like…"

"It was drawing you here?" Cloud offered and I nodded my head, taking what was given. "I think I know why." He said as he put away his blade, then turned and made his way up the isle, where on either side were a bunch of ruined benches, but some still looked stable.

"Oh really?" I asked as I stepped in further, I couldn't take my eyes off of that small pool of water, was that from the storm.

I put my blade away as well in the sheath strapped to my back, but left my hand lingering there for a few moments before I finally let it drop.

"Yeah, you were drawn to the cure." Cloud said over his shoulder, and I froze. The cure was here.

"I should be leaving." I said as I made to turn and walk away, but something cot my arm before I had even turned 90 degrees toward the exit.

"I know you said you had nothing left to live for, that there was nothing left for you to protect and care for, but if you die, then you might be missing out on a lot more." Cloud said as he held my arm firmly, but not enough to hurt or bruise.

"You'll never be able to get to know Yuffie better," he went on, "and I'm sure that Tifa would like you get to know you. You would be able to meet the rest of the gang, and I'm sure that you would get along pretty well, if not, then that's just another part of life." He said and released my arm.

I let his words sink in. Yuffie was going to be hard to forget, and Tifa's sweet, I would like to get to know her better as well. She's got this motherly touch to her, but I can tell just by looking in her eyes that if she has too she'll get physical, and win. I do want to meet their other friends, I got a glimpse of them last night, but never really had a chance to say anything to them. I let out a silent sigh.

"Maybe…my life doesn't have to end, just yet." I said as I turned to Cloud, a bright smile on my face. "And maybe, I can actually get to know you too." I said quietly.

I've spent most of my time with Cloud out off all of these new friends I had found, and just from the look in his eyes, I could tell that he too had harbored a dark past. I want to help him out, get him to open up, and maybe, one day I can too.

"So, you're not so eager to die?" Cloud asked, looking into my Mako eyes with his own, like he was trying to find something, then, he seemed to find it.

"Maybe not just yet, I think I'll live while I can, we only get to be on this earth once, why not enjoy the lives we're offered." I said as I walked over to Cloud again. "You know, you sure do have a way of convincing me into things, are you playing with my head?" I asked as I smirked at him.

"Maybe I am, maybe I'm not." Cloud said as he grinned slightly back. I raised an eyebrow then chuckled looking back over to the pool of water, I was really getting annoyed by my damn curiosity.

"Ok, now it's bugging me, what's with the water?" I asked, and Cloud looked over as well. I could hear him chuckle and then I almost jumped when he took my hand and began to pull me toward the pool of water.

"This is not just water." Cloud said as he stopped at the edge of the water. "But the cure." He said quietly. This time I did jump.

"That pool of water is the cure?" I asked as I looked at him in shock, he just looked over his shoulder and nodded at me. "Well that's not really what I was expecting."

"And just what were you expecting?" Cloud asked as he turned toward me slightly.

"I don't know, a needle or something." I suggested and he chuckled again. A crack of thunder sounded outside and I looked toward the door in time to see the light that lit the church.

"No needle." Cloud said from behind me, "So, will you take the cure?" he asked, and I looked over at him again.

"How?" I asked, he smirked at me and turned to the water again, he removed his sword and leaned it against a fallen pillar.

He then went back to the water and slowly got in. My eyes widened and he turned to me again, the water up to his waist. I watched him warily, and looked around and across the water, wondering if I should follow suit.

I looked back to Cloud and he outstretched his hand towards me, offering his assistance. I took a deep breath on more time and took a step toward the thing that would change my life, but I was sure now, I wanted to live through this.

I undid the sash of my sword and sheath, before leaning them against the pillar beside Cloud's sword. I turned to Cloud again, and stepped to the edge of the water, I was about to reach for his hand when he stepped forward unexpectedly.

"Hold on." He said as he came back to the edge, he head only came up to my waist here and he grabbed my hand, and pulled me lower, making me kneel by the water. His hand slowly came to my neck and I could feel him undue the end of the bandages, and I didn't stop him, I just let him unravel them.

Once he had gotten to the bottom of my neck, he had stopped, so I took off from where he had stopped. I unraveled the rest and let them fall loose and slip out under the vest I was wearing. I 

then undid the zipper of the vest and slipped it from my shoulders, leaving my in nothing but my small top that showed off my whole stomach and back. (Basically a sports bra)

I looked back to Cloud and he offered his hand to me again, I reached out slowly and grasped his hand in mine, holding it securely, before I felt him tug on it and begin to pull me in toward him and the water…the cure.

I knew it was time for me to let go of my past, and get ready for my future…

_I never blamed you…_

_Not once…_

* * *

**Chapter 4! Hope you all enjoyed it, and please review, i like...live off of reviews, i feel like you don't like my story if you don't review and it hurts T.T**

**Please review so i know what i might need to do to make the story better, or just tell me if you like it, but please, no flames!**


	5. Dancing With Rain, Singing With Thunder

**Hello! little heade up, when you see writing that looks like **_this_** then that means that it's a part of the song that is in this chapter!**

**Disclaimer: i do not own Final Fnatasy or any of the characters, but i do own Jade and her family!**

The Sound Of rain

Chapter 5:

Cloud took my other hand and gently pulled me further, into the water. My hands gripped his shoulders as the water, that was surprisingly warm, came up to my waist. I looked down at Cloud, sense he was holding me above him so that I wasn't entirely in the water.

"You ready?" he asked as he looked me in the eye, I nodded my head and Cloud smiled very slightly, before he began to lower be further into the water. I could feel the odd tingling sensations that ran along my back as the water ran over the stigma. Not I stood in the water, up to my stomach.

Cloud made a cup with his hands and lifted some of the water to my neck, before letting it run down the skin. The tingling sensation started at my neck and ran down my back a little further. I shivered slightly from the odd feeling and moved closer to Cloud, so that I was leaning against his chest.

Cloud moved my hair out of the way before pouring more of the water on my back, and I shivered again from the odd feelings it caused. My eyes were closed and I was thinking through all of this, and trying to get rid of the comforting feeling I had when I was close to Cloud like I was now.

After I felt the tingling sensations stop, and my skin start to become cold from how I was soaked and the wind was wiping around us. I lifted my hand to my neck and felt the skin, and when no pain surged through me, I let a bright smile come to my face.

"Thank you Cloud!" I said as I jumped up to him and wrapped my arms around his neck, planting a quick kiss on his lips. But the movement was fast and un expected, so he lost his balance and began to fall backwards, until he fell into the water and I went with him.

Cloud and I surfaced again and I blushed slightly as I turned away from him, not believing that I had just done that, and to make things worse I had kissed him. My face was hot, but my body was edging closer to going numb. I shivered and turned toward the ledge of the water.

Cloud was already pulling himself out, and it surprised me to see that his hair was still the same! The spikes looked like that were shining, and hadn't changed a bit from getting wet. I walked over to the edge and was about to pull myself out as well, when I saw a hand in front of me.

"You're welcome." Cloud said as he offered his hand to me, a small grin on his face.

I smirked back and took the hand offered, letting him pull me from the water and onto the wooden floors. Another shiver ran through me as the wind bit at me, making me rub my arms, trying to warm myself from friction.

I calmed slightly as I closed my eyes and listened to the rain that fell through the large hole in the roof, dripping into the pool of water that we had just come from. I looked out toward the doors and saw the rain falling down onto the ground outside, making large puddles in the dirt.

"You ok?" Cloud asked as he looked over at me, seeing my just staring at the door, I smiled and nodded, before I took off out the door and ran form the church. I could hear Cloud coming after me, and when I looked behind me I could see that he had left his sword back in the church, just like I had done as well.

After a while of running through the ruins, I had lost Cloud, letting him try to find me on his own. I stopped in a clearing where all of the rubble and busted buildings covered from view, so I wished him luck on trying to find me in this place, and then I wished myself luck on finding my way back to the church to get Onyx.

I outstretched my arms and just let the rain fall down onto me, the cold liquid falling along my skin before being washed away by more down pour. I was cold, yes, but I didn't mind it as much, I was too happy for anything to ruin it. As I stood in the cold, I began to dance around slightly, and let my feet guide me around the muddy clearing.

I began to hum quietly under my breath, remembering a song that I had wrote a while back, it now stuck in my head. I closed my eyes and let myself go to the sounds of thunder and the feel of the cold rain.

Cloud's POV

I had officially lost her, I couldn't see her anywhere in the ruins. The rain had increased and I couldn't heal as well because of the sounds of the rain falling down. I began to walk around to try and find Jade somewhere in here.

Why had she ran off so suddenly, and why did she kiss me? I mean, I expected her to maybe thank me with a hug, but I never saw that one coming. Then she had just smiled and ran off, like a little child running out to play in the rain. And that's another thing, what is with her and the rain?

I stopped dead in my tracks when I had come to a clearing, not believing what I was seeing.

Jade was dancing around the clearing, her long brown hair, soaked and dripping as she spun around and twirled. She looked like someone who had just done the best thing in her life, and she probably had.

Jade's POV

I noticed Cloud standing in the clearing now, but I didn't care, I just continued to dance. My mind at ease and my body finally pain free, every movement I made was just graceful, there was no pain, no screw-ups, and I was finally truly happy. And for some reason, when I ad seen Cloud come into the clearing, I smiled even brighter, glad that he was there.

_My hands are searching for you_

_My arms are outstretched towards you_

I turned to face him again, but didn't stop my dancing movements, Clouds eyes were wider, as though he had never seen someone dance before and it was all so new to him. I reached out slightly toward him and I could have sworn I saw his hand twitch, before I turned and twisted around in another twirl.

_I feel you on my finger tips_

_My tongue dances behind my lips for you_

I ran over to Cloud, noticing his look of shock, but ignored it and took his hand, pulling him into the rain with me, smiling the whole time. I moved after me, as I pulled him into the center of the clearing, where I had discarded my boots so I was now dancing around bare footed in the mud. I ran my fingers gently along his hand before I released it and turned to spin around again.

_This fire rising through my being_

_Burning I'm not use to seeing you_

I Could feel myself blush slightly as I knew he was watching me closely, he would probably think I'm insane after this one, but I didn't care. He was here, it was raining, and I was free, of everything, the pain, the sorrow, I had let it all go, and now there was one more thing I wanted to try.

_I'm alive_

_I'm alive_

Cloud was still watching me, and I felt the blush increase in my cheeks and walked over to him, not danced, not ran, just walked calmly over to him. The rain was pouring down his tanned face, and his hair glistened with the water. His Mako eyes still watched my movements and I smiled, feeling proud and confident.

_I can feel you all around me_

_Thickening the air I'm breathing_

I slopped in front of Cloud again, and pushed myself into him, wrapping my arms around his built waist and resting my head on his chest, over his heart. I could feel him hesitate slightly before two strong arms wrapped around my shoulders tightly.

_Holding onto what I'm feeling_

_Savoring this heart that's healing_

My hands gripped the back of his shirt, keeping a firm hold on him, and he tightened his arms around me in return. My heart was beating violently in my chest, pounding again my rib cage and threatened to brake it. Cloud resting his chin on the top of my head, and I smiled again.

_My hands float up above me_

_And you whisper you love me_

I let my body slide away from his slightly so I could look up at his wet face, his eyes sliding to half shut as I knew that he was relaxed. I released the back of his shirt and let my arms release him, before I lifted my hands to come up and cup his face.

_And I begin to fade_

_Into our secret place_

I then began to pull my hands away from him face, letting them slowly come down to my sides as I took a step back. Why was I doing this, I shouldn't ruin a new friend ship just because I think he's cute, and the secure and protected feeling I have when I'm near him…

_The music makes me sway_

_The angels singing say we are along with you_

_I am along and they are too with you_

The clearing seemed to grow thick with nerves, and right as I was stepping away so I could try to avoid having my new happiness shatter, I felt something wrapped around each of my wrists and looked up to come face to face with Cloud. His hands now gripping either of my wrists and preventing my from stepping away.

_I'm alive_

_I'm alive_

My eyes were wide when I saw that he had a small smile on his face but it seemed somewhat sad. Like he thought that I was about to just step out of his life and the thought scared him. My heart began to speed up again and I blushed madly, hoping that he just thought it was the cold that was causing my cheeks to turn color.

_I can feel you all around me_

_Thickening the air I'm breathing_

Cloud tugged gently on my wrists, bringing me back to him. His face ducked down and before I knew what was happening there were a pair of warm soft lips in mine. The grasp disappeared from my wrists and then I could feel his arms wrap around my shoulders again, while my arms instinctively came to wrap tightly around his torso.

_Holding onto what I'm feeling_

_Savoring this heart that's healing_

I grip tightened on his shirt again when I felt his lips part and his tongue run gently across my lower lips, pleading for entrance. I gladly gave in and opened my mouth, before I felt his tongue snake in. I stifled a moan when I felt his tongue press against mine, while his arms brought me closer to his body.

_And so I cry_

_The light is white_

_And I see you_

I smiled into the kiss and standing on my toes so that I was at least almost the same height as him, and cupped his face in my hands, tilting my head slightly to the side so I could deepen the kiss further.

_I'm alive_

_I'm alive_

_I'm alive…_

Our lips parted and the kiss left us both panting for air, having been cut off for so long. I still held his face in my hands as I smiled up at him. Damn his height. While his arms were now wrapped around my waist, his hands locked behind me so that I couldn't escape his hold.

_I can feel you all around me_

_Thickening the air I'm breathing_

_Holding onto what I'm feeling_

_Savoring this heart that's healing_

A genuine smile came onto his face and I smiled right back, Cloud's arms tightened around my waist again, before he lifted my up off my feet. I wrapped my arms around his neck and held on tight, smiling and letting our a loose giggle as he held my in the air, our body's still pressed firmly together.

_Take my hand_

_I give it to you_

_Now you own me_

_All I am_

"So tell me, why do you like the rain so much?" Cloud asked quietly, trying his best not to ruin the moment.

_You said you would never leave me_

_I believe you_

_I believe…_

"That's a long, story, and meant for another time." I whispered back, lying my forehead against his, now that sense he had lifted me that I was actually taller then him.

_I can feel you all around me_

_Thickening the air I'm breathing_

_Holding onto what I'm feeling_

"Well, I hope you stay long enough to tell me it." Cloud said with another smile, I smirked and pulled his face back up to mine, our lips meeting again, a smile on both of our faces as we kissed in the rain.

_Savoring this hear that's healed…_

**wow, that one took a little while to write, sorry for the wait. i hope you all liked it!**


	6. I'll Always Be Here

**Disclaimer: i do not own Final Fantasy or any of the characters...T.T**

Sounds Of Rain

Chapter 6: I'll Always Be Here

_I knew there was warmth around me, but for some reason, everything felt cold. I was stuck in darkness, it was closing in so tight I found it hard to breath. I looked around but no one was there, I was alone, lost in my own misery. _

"_Mom? Dad? Arianna?" I looked around at the emptiness that had been my heart. The warmth was slowly slipping further and further away from me, slipping right through my fingers. _

_Then I was in a room, that stunk of smoke and liquor, I recognized this place. I looked around and saw a group of men looking up at someone that was standing on a table, she was wearing a small torn shirt that barely covered any of her body, and her shorts were a tattered and dirty mess. She was no older then 17, and she was shaking, or, I was shaking, both then…and now._

"_Sing for us girl!" One of the men yelled up at my teenage form._

"_But I-"_

"_No excuses!" another yelled as he tossed her a microphone, "And don't forget to dance, the boss will be watching this later." He added as he pulled out a video camera, before plopping down and turning it on._

"_Sing!" My former self hesitated slightly before she lifted the mic up to her lips, her hands and arms shaking. _

"_How can you see into my eyes_

_Like open doors_

_Leading you down into my core_

_Where I've become so numb_

_Without a soul_

_My spirit's sleeping somewhere cold_

_Until you find it there and lead it back…_

_Home_

_Wake me up inside_

_Wake me up inside_

_Call me name and save me from the dark_

_Bid my blood to run_

_Before I come undone_

_Save me from the nothing I've become_

_Now that I know what I'm without_

_You can't just leave me_

_Breath into me and make me real_

_Bring me to life…"_

_The image vanished and everything was dark again, leaving me alone once more. tears streamed down my cheeks. I had sung with fear and anger for what I had been put through, and what my family had been put through. A sob escaped my lips, a I called out again._

"_Tifa?" I called a little louder, but there was still nothing. I slowly began to panic and I looked around frantically, my breathing becoming harsh as I ran into the nothingness, but no matter how far I ran, I never seemed to get anywhere. The tears came harder now and I began to quake with fear, I fell to my knees and wrapped my arms around my self in my cold mind._

"_CLOUD!"_

My eyes flew open as I felt myself being shook, a firm and somewhat painful grip on my shoulders. I looked around frantically for a moment and clawed at the person holding onto my shoulders, trying to have them release me. I gasped as the person shook me again and I cried out slightly, trying harder to get them to release me.

"Jade?!" Cloud's voice was hurt and concerned in my ears, and I ceased all movements. My eyes stung with the tears from my dream. He was here, my warmth…

"Cloud…" I whispered almost to quiet for him to hear me. "Cloud!" I yelled this time, throwing my arms around him and taking us both to the floor, my face buried in his chest as I wrapped my arms around him, never wanting to let go. My nails clawed at him through the shirt he wore, and I could feel him wince slightly as I dug harder, trying to get closer to him. His arms came around my shoulders in a vice grip, and he held me so close to his chest that I almost had some trouble breathing. But I was calming slightly, yet I still wailed like a child that had just had the biggest fright of their life.

Cloud's shirt was getting wet all over again, our clothes having dried after we came back to the church, Cloud leading the way. My tears wouldn't stop, I thought that I had cried hard the other night, but no, this was like I had just watched the entire world burn alive in front of my eyes, everything hurt…

"Don't…Don't leave me…" I wined as I cried.

"I won't, I'm here, I'll always be here…" Cloud mumbled back, but I could hear slight hesitation in his voice before he continued, "…I promise."

Cloud had shifted from us lying on the ground, to him sitting cross-legged, his back against a pillar. I sat in his lap, with my arms still around him tightly, he too holding me close to him. He rocked me back and forth slightly in a soothing motion and I calmed a little more, feeling the warmth of his body banish away the coldness of my nightmare.

He never asked what I had dreamt about, he seemed to already have a good idea. He shushed me slightly as I continued to sob quieter now, having calmed myself to the state where the pain was gone and replaced by a numbing sensation.

"I think…I'm ok now." I mumbled into Cloud's shirt before I looked up at him, his eyes were still full of concern and his face was slightly pale.

"Are you sure, you scared me there for a minute…" he trailed off slightly, I let a small, sad smile cross my face and nodded my head.

"Sorry if I worried you, but I'm fine now." I said quietly, before I took a deep breath in, then released it through my nose. "maybe we should be getting back, I promised Tifa I wouldn't be gone long."

"She called a little while ago, she said that the others were coming and wanted to meet you," Cloud explained, his voice so quiet and gentle. "I told her I'd have you back by four, it's a little while after three now." Cloud said as he looked at the time on his phone.

"Yeah, I told her I would be back by 4 too." I said as I leaned slightly, away from Cloud, but his arms stopped me and I was pulled back to him.

"We don't have to leave…just yet." Cloud said calmly as he exhaled quietly, closing his eyes. I chuckled slightly, the thoughts of my dreams already floating away.

"Maybe not yet." I agreed and laid my head on his chest once more.

Yuffie's POV

I looked over to the door when it opened and a very wet and dripping Jade walked in, with Cloud not to far behind her. I couldn't help but let out a small giggle when I saw that Cloud's spikes were still the same, the rain hadn't done a thing. They both had their swords strapped to their backs and looked like something might have happened between them, but I just ignored it.

"Hello!" I called happily as I ran over and hugged Jade, happy to see her again, and much more awake.

"Hey Yuffie, nice to see you too." She said as she smiled, I pulled away and was about to say something when my words cot in my throat. I grabbed her vest and pulled her closer to me and looked at her neck, examining both sides, my eyes widening.

"Yuffie, what on earth are you doing?" Tifa asked from behind me, I spun around and brought Jade with me.

"Her stigma's gone!" I yelled as I motioned to her neck. I could hear Cloud chuckle almost silently behind me and raised an eyebrow at him.

"Of course it is." Jade said as she yanked her arm from my hand, "I did get cured, Cloud convinced me to." She explained as she motioned to Cloud.

"Convinced?" I asked as I looked over at her, she looked surprised for a moment before it dawned on her.

"Oh you don't know, well, long story short, I was a little scared to get cured, and Cloud helped to convince me." She explained as she scratched the back of her neck.

"Oh, well come on! I want you to meet the others!" I practically screamed as I once again took hold of her arm and pulled her over to the nearest person, well, second sense Tifa was closest to us at the time.

"Yuffie, I can walked on my own." She said as she hit my shoulder, not to hard, but enough to cause me to let go of her arm.

"This, is Barrett, Barrett this it Luna Jade." I said happily, motioning to each of them.

"Just call me Jade." Jade said calmly as she smiled at Barrett.

"Hey, well a friend of Tifa and Cloud's is a fiend of mine, welcome to the team!" Barrett said as he smiled down at her.

"Ok! Next is Vincent!" I said as I once again took her arm, only to get another knock to my shoulder, this time harder. "This is Vincent Valentine." I said as I motioned to Vincent, Jade grinned at him and nodded her head at him, Vincent nodded back.

I raised an eyebrow and looked over at Cloud who was watching Jade closely, also slightly confused at what had just happened, it was like she just knew what he was like. I shook it off and made a grab for Jade's arm but she slapped my hand away, once again, harder then last time.

"Hey!" I called as I pulled my hand back.

"I'm just going to continue getting harder until you stop it." She warned as she looked closely at me, I pouted for a moment before turning to Reno and Rude.

"Ok, then there's the two Turks, Reno is the one with the spiked red hair." I said, then leaned over and whispered in her ear, "He's a total pervert so watch out." I straightened and saw that Jade was holding in a laugh. "Then the one wearing the sunglasses is Rude." I chirped as I motioned to the bald one standing by Reno.

"Nice introductions Yuffie." Tifa said as she sat on a stool at the bar, a smirk on her face.

"Thanks!" she rolled her eyes and sighed, "Cid!" I called as I ran over to him, "Cid, Jade, Jade Cid." I said as I motioned to each, and turned to Tifa, "Better?" she laughed at that and I smirked. "And I guess that's everyone…"I said as I looked around the room, and Jade raised an eyebrow at me. The sound of running and child's voices reached everyone's ear and Tifa smiled.

"Well maybe not everyone."

Just then two kids came running into the room, a boy with reddish brown hair and a girl with long light brown hair. They spotted Jade out of all the others and I stepped aside. Jade smiled and kneeled next to Marlene.

"Hi, you must be Marlene?" she said sweetly and Marlene nodded her head happily. Jade turned to Denzel and gave him a smile as well, "Then you must me Denzel, Cloud's told me about you two, it's nice to finally meet you."

"Hey," Denzel said as he smiled back at her, blushing slightly, I had to smirk, aw…he thinks she's hot.

"Hi!" Marlene said sweetly, "What's your name?" she asked as she gave a childish smile.

"My name's Luna, but everyone calls be Jade." She said as she smiled back to Marlene.

"Marlene, Denzel, Jade is going to be stay with us or a while, ok?" Tifa said as she looked down at the two. The both nodded their heads, before Denzel ran over to Cloud and Marlene ran off to Barrett. Jade straightened up and smiled after the kids, she seemed happier then when I had seen her last, well, of course she's happier, last time she was in pain.

Jade's POV

The others all stayed until it got to be about dark, and left so Tifa could put the kids to bed. It wasn't storming out anymore, but it was still raining slightly. Tifa and Yuffie had nagged me about my stigma and why I might have hesitated to cure it, but they just didn't seem to get it like Cloud did.

I went to bed pretty early that night, tired from mine and Cloud's dance in the rain, then coming back here to be bombarded my Yuffie and her introductions. I laid down in my bed, and I felt fatigue begin to way down on me, and before I knew it, I was asleep.

_A voice filled my head as I slept, it was familiar, it was broken. Everything went cold again and I found myself shivering as I glanced around the darkness once more. 'Not again' I thought as I rubbed my arms for warmth, but it never came._

"_Wake me up inside_

_Wake me up inside_

_Call my name and save me from the dark_

_Bid my blood to run_

_Before I come undone_

_Save me from the nothing I've become_

_Bring me to life_

_Bring me to life_

_Frozen inside without your touch_

_Without your love, darling._

_Only you are the life among the dead._

_I've been sleeping 1000 years it seems_

_I've got to open my eyes to everything_

_Bring me to life_

_Wake me up inside,_

_wake me up inside_

_Call my name and save m from the dark_

_Bid my blood to run_

_Before I come undone_

_Save me from the nothing I've become_

_Bring me to life_

_Bring me to life…_

"CLOUD!"

**sorry if this chapter is a bit...odd, but i just had to write something about Cloud comforting Jade.**

**Please tell me what you think in a review, or if i might have gotten something wrong.**


	7. The 'We Need To Talk' Look

**Disclaimer: i do not own Final Fantasy**

Sound Of Rain

Chapter 7: The 'We Have To Talk' Look

Last night was kind of a blur, I remember waking up shivering and covered in sweat. Apparently I had made a lot of noise in my sleep, but only enough to wake the person in the room beside me, and that was Cloud's room.

Cloud's POV (previous night)

I woke so the sound of someone crying, and quickly sat up, it took my no time at all to realize it was coming from the room next to me, Jade's room. I recognized her crying from earlier today, when she had had that dream when we were in the church.

I quickly jumped from my bed, throwing the covers aside and pretty much running out the door, before opening Jade's to see her shivering in her bed, though the blankets wrapped around her were quite thick and very warm. I quickly ran to the side of the bed, leaning over, placing one knee on the mattress to keep my balance, and grabbing her shoulders strong, but gently.

"Jade, wake up!" I whispered in a harsh voice, trying not to wake the others in the home as well.

"CLOUD!" she nearly screamed my name as she shot up in her sleep, waking up, her face was shinning from sweat in the lights that came in from the street, and her eyes were wide, her body continued to shiver and she looked out past me, at the wall. Her arms were now wrapped around herself, as though she was trying to protect herself from something.

"Jade?" I asked, grabbing her by her shoulders again, tears were beginning to form in her eyes and she quickly looked over to me, her body continuing to shake. Her eyes held only fear, as though she had seen something terrible, and a chocked sob escaped her.

"I…they…" she never got the chance to finish as she broke down in more sobs, I quickly pulled her to my chest, wrapping my arms around her and rocking her slightly, trying to calm her down. I would feel how wet she was from sweating, her skin was hot, though she was shaking like the other night in the graveyard, her tears were beginning to seep through my shirt and I could feel them moist against my skin.

"I'm here, it's ok." I whispered as I buried my face in her brown hair, closing my eyes as I continued to rock her. I heard someone step by the door and looked over to see Tifa standing there with a worried look, she was looking down at the trembling Jade in my arms, before her eyes met mine.

A frown came to my lips and I shook my head, silently telling her I didn't understand either. She nodded her head and turned to leave, seeing that I had the situation dealt with, closing the door almost the whole way, but leaving it open just ever so slightly. I buried my face in Jade's hair again and I could feel that her trembling had gone down slightly.

"I-I-" she tried to speak again but her breath hitched every time.

"It's ok, just try to go back to sleep, I'm right here." I whispered quietly, and she nodded against my chest. I shifted slightly on the bed, so now I was lying down with my head resting on the pillow, Jade's head resting on my chest, using it as a pillow. My arms were still wrapped around her and her hands were now lying limp on my chest.

Her breath began to even out after a while and her sobs soon began to quiet down. I looked down and saw that her eyes were closed and her face was peaceful again, she had fallen back asleep. Her face was shiny with tears and her lips were slightly parted as she breathed, her hair was a total mess and wet from the sweat of her nightmare.

That's the second time she's woken up screaming, first it was when she had fallen asleep in the church, and then tonight. Was it that she was remembering something that had happened in her past, her was she just having vivid dreams of her fears. I didn't want to ask her, I knew she would rather not talk about it, but I had to know what was bothering her if there was any chance in Heaven or Hell of helping her.

Jade's POV (present time)

I leaned up against the shower wall, letting the water wash over me. It had only taken me about 5 minutes to wash my hair with the soaps that Tifa had given me, and I was using my remanding shower time to think over my dream last night. Cloud had awoken me before it was able to finish, and for that I was grateful, for I remembered what happened after the song ended…

I closed my eyes against the water, sighing from the pleasant feeling of the warm shower, if felt nice to clean off all of the sweat that I had on me from my nightmare, but it as more of a memory then a nightmare. I remember the look that Cloud had given me when I woke up, it was the 'we have to talk' look that I dreaded. He was getting to the breaking point, he wanted to know about my new night time routines, and why they were happening.

I sighed loudly this time, pushing myself off the wall and turning off the water, I couldn't avoid him forever, but I could try to avoid him for now. I wrapped a towel around my body, stepping from the steamy shower and onto the mat. I did my best to dry both my body and long brown hair before I put on my clothes, the ones that Tifa had cleaned for me, much to my surprise.

I couldn't help but stare at my neck in the mirror, I looked so different without the stigma, and it was hard to believe that I had finally cured it. I let my hair hang loose, after running a brush through it to get out as many of the knots as possible, I would brush it again when it was dry, until then I would have to make due.

I stepped out of the washroom and into the deserted hallway. I could hear Marlene and Denzel playing in their room, sense today was a Saturday and there was no school for them. Tifa was down stairs doing something, I really had no clue, and Cloud was only god knows where! He had taken off sometime earlier this morning, which I was actually kind of glad for, it makes it easier to avoid him when he isn't around.

I stopped by my room on my way downstairs and picked up my sword, tying it to my hip securely, before I walked down the stairs, jumping the last four steps, and walked into the kitchen, and ta-da! There was Tifa, cleaning the dishes from her and the kid's breakfast. She turned to look at me when I entered the room, then sighed when she saw me once again carrying my sword around with me.

"You're safe here Jade, you don't have to carry that thing everywhere." Tifa said, turning back to the sink full of suds.

"Well, if I leave it up stairs, and someone attacks, then I would have to run up and get it, it's so much easier to just carry this with me." I replied in a smart-ass tone. I could almost hear Tifa roll her eyes.

"Whatever, just don't break anything." She mumbled, but I heard her as clear as day, but not as clear as today, it was once again cloudy.

"I won't, I won't." I mumbled back, waving a hand as though to wave away what she had said with a simple movement. "Need a hand?" I asked as I looked over to her, she glanced over her shoulder, then smiled.

"Sure, I'll wash, you dry." She said as she held up a wet plate, I smiled back and walked over to her, taking the dry cloth from over her shoulder, and beginning to dry the plate while she began to wash another.

That went on for about 10 minutes, while we made light conversation, telling each other things about our lives. I told her about my travels and she told me about her life, how she had been child-hood friends with Cloud, and how she met Yuffie and the others as well.

"You and Yuffie are actually a lot alike, just you're a little more serious at times and not so hyper." Tifa said as we sat at the bar, done with the dishes and were now just talking.

"Cloud said the same thing yesterday, but not in the same words." I said as I remembered when he had come back to the church in the rain.

'_You know, in a way, you remind me of Yuffie.'_

"So how did you run into Cloud yesterday anyway?" she asked, looking at my shoulder where the Geostigma used to be, I heard the truth behind the question. _"So what were you and Cloud really doing yesterday?"_

"I was out for my run when I came across the church I saw Clouds Fenrir outside" he had told me the name yesterday as well, "and I went to go see him. He and I talked for a while, well, he tried to talk me into the cure and I listened. After he was able to convince me, he had helped my to cure the stigma in the pool, we just talked a little after that." I said, lying through my teeth at the end.

Tifa raised an accusing eyebrow at me, but let it drop, then changed the subject. My heart dropped.

"So what was up with you last night?"

"What do you mean?" I asked in a panicked voice, I didn't know whether she meant the dream, or how I had fallen asleep on Cloud.

"You were pretty much screaming in your sleep, by the time I had got to your room thought Cloud was already there." She said as she gave me a concerned look.

"Just a really, really bad dream." I said back, looking down at my lap and fisting my hands. She continued to look at me, then began to speak.

"A dream or a memory?" she asked, I looked up at her, and was thinking of what to say next when the door to the bar opened. Thank god, saved. I looked over and my eyes widened. Spoke to soon. Cloud stepped in and looked at me and Tifa.

"Hi Cloud, where'd you run off to so early?" Tifa asked, as though this happened all the time, and was now known as merely light conversation.

"I had to do an early delivery." He said, I raised an eyebrow at him. Delivery? Tifa noticed my confused look and helped out.

"Cloud delivers packages, he's a delivery boy." Tifa said as she smirked at Cloud, who almost silently groaned, but I was able to hear it do to the Mako in my system.

"Delivery boy?" I asked as I glanced at him again, smirking as well.

"Just drop it." He almost hissed as he glared at us, I chuckled and shook my head, before getting up and stretching, mine and Tifa's earlier conversation forgotten, now I had Cloud to worry about…and Tifa.

"Well, I'm going to go for a walk, I need some fresh air." I said as I began to walk toward the door, I could have sworn I saw Cloud and Tifa exchange glances, but shook it off. I opened the door and stepped outside, jumping off the steps and beginning to walk toward the ruins where I had found the church, I could hear someone coming up behind me, before they grabbed my arm.

"I have to talk with you." Cloud's voice was hushed in my ear, and then he began to pull me toward Fenrir. I couldn't see his face, but I knew that he must have had a serious look. I got onto the back after him and wrapped my arms around his waist so I wouldn't go flying off when the bike thrust forward in a burst of speed.

I closed my eyes as the wind began to bite at them, and I could hear my sword tapping against the side of the bike as the wind and sharp turns jerked it around. Cloud was wearing dark goggles to protect his eyes from the wind, but I had nothing to stop mine, so I was left blinded as I held onto Cloud in front of me.

I knew he must have been heading for the church, and I wasn't about to complain. For some reason I really liked the church, it was peaceful and had a heavenly aura to it. The flowers made it seem like it was a sanctuary and Cloud was protecting it. Though it was beginning to come apart, it was still a great place to stay to try and chase away your troubles.

"We're here." Cloud said as he slowed the bike, before stopping. I opened my eyes and rubbed them with my sleeved arm, trying to get them used to the light again, sense I had had them closed for a while. I released Cloud, missing his warmth in the freezing weather, and dismounted, him following suit and doing so as well.

I tapped my feet on the hard ground, trying to wake up my legs as they had fallen asleep. Cloud walked ahead to the doors of the church and opened them, walking in, and I quickly ran after him, making sure that I didn't bump into him when I entered. I sighed as I looked around the church, I would so live here, if only there as a heater…and a roof.

"So, what did you want to talk to me about?" I asked, though I knew perfectly well what he wanted to talk about.

"Your dreams, they're memories, aren't they?" he asked glancing over his shoulder at me, I was slightly surprised that he had cut right to the chase.

I looked away from him, not wanting to answer, but I knew that the simple movement was answer enough. Cloud's footsteps were heard again, coming in my direction, but I was still looking to the side, suddenly finding great inertest in the destroyed benches that someone had once been able to sit on, on the right side of the church.

Cloud was right in front of me now and I could feel his strong gaze on my face, before a gloved finger slid under my chin and forced me to look at him. Mako met Mako as he looked down at me, and I could see concern in his deep eyes. His mouth was curved downward in a frown. His brows were knitted together in either concern, or something else…confusion?

"What did you remember?" he asked gently not releasing my chin, for he must have known that I would try to turn away again, and I had, but failed. So I settled for looking down at his chest, probably not the best idea, but it was all I could with his hand under my chin.

"Just things that happened while I was in the lab." I said sternly, scowling at his chest. Why did he have to look so good!?

"What?" he asked his voice more stern, I looked up at him and glared.

"I don't have to tell you, I can keep to myself what I want." I hissed as my eyes narrowed at him.

"I can't help if you don't let me." He said back, both of our voices growing in volume. I growled at him, and swatted his hand away from my chin before I did something neither of us expected, not even me…

**Thank you! please Review, but no flames!**


	8. To Be Forgiven

**Disclaimer: i do not own Final Fantasy**

Previously on _Sounds Of Rain_…

"_What did you remember?" he asked gently not releasing my chin, for he must have known that I would try to turn away again, and I had, but failed. So I settled for looking down at his chest, probably not the best idea, but it was all I could with his hand under my chin._

"_Just things that happened while I was in the lab." I said sternly, scowling at his chest. Why did he have to look so good!?_

"_What?" he asked his voice more stern, I looked up at him and glared._

"_I don't have to tell you, I can keep to myself what I want." I hissed as my eyes narrowed at him._

"_I can't help if you don't let me." He said back, both of our voices growing in volume. I growled at him, and swatted his hand away from my chin before I did something neither of us expected, not even me…_

Sounds Of Rain

Chapter 8: To Be Forgiven

I lunged forward, gripping Cloud's hair, before I crushed my lips onto his. The force of my jump, as well as Cloud's shock, caused us both to crash to the ground. I was now straddling Cloud's stomach and still hand my hands buried him his golden hair, he was forced to arch his back sense he still had his Buster Sword strapped on. Cloud's eyes were wide for a moment before he followed me and shut them.

His arms wrapped around my shoulders tightly, bringing me closer to him and forcing out bodies together. My lips moved against his and he opened his mouth so that he could slip his tongue out and lick my bottom lip. I opened my mouth without any hesitation and held back a moan when his tongue began to search my whole mouth.

Before I knew what had happened, Cloud had flipped the both of us, him ending up on top in the end. His arms were now on either side of my head, preventing him from placing all of his weight on top of me. One of his hands ran from my shoulder, gently over my left breast, before his fingers made ghostly trails along my side. I shivered and arched up, not able to stop the small moan that came up my throat.

Cloud pulled away panting, his chest heaving heavily as he took in deep breaths. I too was panting, breathless from the kiss. My fingers were still buried in his hair and I was slightly surprised that he was yet to tell me to remove them, after all, I was pulling rather hard on his hair.

Cloud's eyes had clouded over slightly with lust, but I could still see the concern buried deep within them, I had to make him forget. I pulled his mouth back down to mine and Cloud gave a muffled grunt as I pushed my tongue into his mouth.

My hands fumbled slightly as I undid the belts that were strapped around Cloud, holding up his Buster Sword. A loud clank could be heard when the large sword hit the ground, the sound of metal crashing on hard wood echoing in the abandoned church. Cloud didn't really seem to notice at first, then his own hands undid the sash that was holding my own sword, letting it fall off my waist and it too joined Cloud's sword on the ground.

A loud crack of thunder came from outside, making us both slightly jump. We hadn't even been paying attention. Cloud had unzipped my top a couple of inches and I had my hands on the belt holding up his pants, about to undo it. The thunder brought us back to the real world, and we both turned our heads to look outside, it was surprisingly dark out, the clouds had become an ominous blackish color and the rain had begun again.

Cloud and I exchanged glances and he pulled himself off of me, offering me a hand when he had gotten to his feet. I took the offered support and let him pull me up. I swooped back down and retrieved my sword, that had somehow found its way under a bench, Cloud was strapping his own sword back on as well.

"I'll admit it, that thunder scared the crap out of me." I said as I smirked at Cloud, he raised an eyebrow but said nothing more about it.

"Are you going to tell me what you remembered or not?" he asked and I flinched, so close… I let out a sigh of defeat as I turned to look at him.

"I was having a dream about when they use to make me entertain them, the guards to my cell." I said as I refused to make eye contact. I could hear Clouds quick intake of breath and chanced a glance at him. His face was totally blank as he watched me. "Sometimes I was forced to sing and dance, other times it had to do with…less clothing." I mumbled the ending, still watching Clouds face.

I could almost hear the 'click' when he pieced together everything I had said. His eyes widened as he stared at me and I had to look away to try and avoid getting the look that promised pain and death in his eyes. Clouds step's toward me were slow, sure, now he had patience, but a few seconds ago when he had nearly broken the zipper trying to undo my shirt he was all for the rush.

"What…happened?" he asked in a critically low voice.

"I think you already know with that look you're giving me." I said as I looked up at him. "Stop it." I said as I leaned slightly away from him and his piecing gaze. I felt like he was trying to read my mind just by looking at me, it was a bit creepy, that look didn't suit him one bit.

I half expected him to yell, hit me, throw something, but when he brought me into a comforting embrace I couldn't catch my jaw before it dropped open. He exhaled loudly into my hair, his arms around me again, as mine hung limp at my side, absolutely clueless as to what the hell was wrong with him.

"Cloud…?" I asked quietly, not knowing if he had lost it or something.

"I want to help you, but you have to open up to me first." Cloud said into my hair, his face buried deep in the light brown color.

"I can't, I don't want to remember." I said as my voice seemed to crack, damn it! I swear, I've cried more in the past couple of days then I have in my entire life!

"You'll be surprised at how good it actually feels to let it out." Cloud said quietly, his voice back to how it was before, gentle, before I had told him.

I thought about what he had just said, and opened my eyes to look over to the cure, then my eyes fell on the patch of flowers near the water. I recognized them from somewhere, but I couldn't seem to place it. I squinted my eyes in concentration, trying to remember. Then it clicked as I remembered yet another dream I had had.

_I stood in a huge field, it seemed like it went on forever, the sky was plane white, and everything seemed to glow, there were beautiful flowers all over the place, of yellow and white. I looked around once more, trying to see where it was, or if there was anyone else around here._

"_Hello there." A voice came from behind me, I froze, I could feel their back pressed to mine, the woman's voice was calm and gentle, like that of a mother's. I didn't turn around, but stood where I was, staring at the ground beneath my feet._

"_Where am I?" I asked quietly, and heard her laugh softly, but not in a mocking way._

"_You are in the Promised Land." She said softly, and in her voice almost seemed happy._

"_Why am I here?" I asked, she let out another giggle._

"_Think about it."_

"_Who are you?"_

"_You ask a lot of questions."_

"_I'm a curious person, here's another one for you, am I dead?" I asked, looking slightly to the left, past my trench coat I could see that she was wearing a pink skirt, that or a dress, I wasn't sure._

"_No, you're very much alive. Now, why do you think you're here?" she asked quietly, countering my earlier question back at me._

"_I…"_

"_Just say whatever first comes to mind."_

"_I think I'm here because…I…I want to be forgiven." I said in a surprised voice, where did that come from, who was this woman._

"_Don't you think it's time you did the forgiving?" my eyes widened and I turned to look at her, but everything vanished, and I laid beside my sisters grave once more._

"Jade?" Cloud's voice pulled my from my thoughts, I looked up at see him staring down at me with concerned, curious eyes.

"Sorry, I spaced for a second there." I said as I looked back down to the ground. Cloud's hands were on my shoulders and he was standing less then a foot's distance from me.

"You were mumbling, what do you mean, '_I want to be forgiven_'?" Cloud asked, lifted my face to look at his as he once again hooked a finger under my chin.

"It's just…"I trailed off, I didn't even understand it, how could I explain it. "I'm not really sure, it was a dream I had a while ago, and I'm still trying to piece everything together." I said honestly, Cloud looked in to my eyes a moment and when he seemed satisfied with my answer and that I spoke the truth, her released my chin.

"Well, why do you think you would need someone's forgiveness?" Cloud asked, he was not going to let this go was he?

"I don't know, most of my life is hazy, and the things I do remember are mostly from dreams I've had." I said as I turned away from him, and began to walk over to the flowers that I had been staring at earlier. I could hear Cloud walking behind me.

"Can you tell me the dreams you've had about being 'forgiven'?" Cloud asked. I sat down beside the flower patch and Cloud sat next to me. I looked down in thought. Maybe he could help me figure out the dream?

"The first time I had ever had a dream about that, I had fallen asleep beside my sister's grave. I've been here before, I actually use to come here often to visit their graves." I said as I looked over to him, he was watching me closely. "I had had a dream that I was in a field full of yellow and white lilies, they were beautiful, and then there was a voice, she had asked me why I thought I was there.

And I wasn't able to answer at first cause I didn't really know, so she told me to just say whatever came to mind first. And the first thing that came to mind for me was that I wanted to be forgiven. I wasn't really sure why I had thought that, I didn't know anyone that might have been made at me except for-" I stopped suddenly, realizing just who I had wanted to forgive me, how could I have not realized it sooner.

"Except for who?" Cloud asked, glancing at me, waiting for me to finish with what I was saying, and I looked back over to him.

"I had always wanted her to forgive me, I always wanted to tell her I was sorry, but it was too late, she was already gone." I whispered to myself. Cloud was looking at me with worried eyes, and I did my best to ignore them, knowing the reason he was looking at me like that.

"Who are you taking about Jade?" Cloud asked in a more urgent voice, wanting to know just what the hell I was talking about.

"Arianna, she had died, and I couldn't stop it, all I wanted to do was protect her, and I couldn't even do that, I'm a terrible sister." I mumbled as I buried my face in my hands. Cloud was silent next to me, realizing what I was talking about. I sighed as I looked to the side, watching as some of the water from the rain poured down from the hole in the roof and onto the lilies.

I picked one of the white lilies gently, rolling it in between me fingers. The petals had some water on them that shinned in the very little light that was provided. A thought hit me as I stared at the Lillie, before a smile crossed my face.

"Cloud can you give me a ride to the cemetery?" I asked as I looked over at him again, his face held slight shock but he nodded once.

I smiled and chirped a thank you before I got to my feet, I looked outside and saw that it was pouring buckets out, but I really needed to do this as soon as possible. I ran to the door and heard Cloud coming behind me, I ran into the pouring rain like it was a sunny day, and there was nothing wrong. Cloud got onto Fenrir first before I climbed on behind him, wrapping one my arms around his torso while the other held onto the Lillie that was tucked to my chest for protection, and gently kissing the back of his neck. I could feel him freeze for a moment, and I knew it wasn't from the rain.

"Hold on," Cloud said right before Fenrir roared to life and we shot forward in the rain, heading toward the cemetery. I closed my eyes again, Cloud was wearing his goggles once more but I still didn't have any, so I was left with having to hide my face for the second time this day.

It didn't take long for us to reach the cemetery, Cloud's driving was way to fast to be called normal, so we got there in record time. I jumped off the bike and ran through the gate, leaving Cloud to try and catch up with me. I didn't slowdown until I got to her grave, my breathing heavy and my chest heaving.

**Hope everyone liked it, and Kain Lockheart was corrct, i did update soon! please send me your reviews! but no flames!**


	9. You Sneeze, I Sneeze Back

**Disclaimer: i do not own final fantasy...**

**that's getting really old...**

Sounds Of Rain

Chapter 9: I Have A Cold, So Do You

Cloud's POV

I didn't follow her to quickly, taking my time to find her at her family's graves. I could see her down in the distance, she seemed to be kneeling in from of her sisters grave. By the time I got her, she was just staring absently at the ground, but her loose hair stopped me from seeing just what she was doing. She was leaning over and her hands were tucked tightly in her lap. The Lillie that she had brought here lying on the ground in from of her baby sisters tomb stone.

Her brown hair hid her face entirely, and I merely stood a few paces behind her. Then, everything went white, just like a couple of months ago when I was going to find Marlene and Denzel after they had been taken away.

I looked around and then saw Aeris, her back was to me and she was staring out at something else. I took a couple steps closer to her, my eyes trained on her figure, I hadn't seen her or the Promised Land sense I saw her and Zack walking out of the church after I had cured Denzel.

"Welcome back, Cloud."

"Aeris?" I asked as I stepped up to her. She turned toward me and smiled.

"Thank you for helping her understand." She said sweetly, I looked at her confused before she looked forward again, and this time I follower her line of sight. At least 20 yards away I could see Jade standing in the lilies, but there was someone else with her, they looked so small. Their hair was a much darker brown and she looked no older then Marlene. I couldn't see Jade very well, but I knew all the way from over here that she was crying because her shoulders were shaking.

They seemed to be talking about something, but I couldn't hear them. The Jade suddenly fell to her knees and took the little girl in her arms, crying into her hair as she small child returned the embrace. Then it clicked, I realized who the girl must have been.

"Is that Jade's baby sister, Arianna?" I asked out loud.

"She is." Aeris said as she smiled, watching them happily. "She's finally realized that she was never blamed, that her sister went in peace."

Cloud looked back over to the two and they were no longer hugging, Arianna was standing away from her sister slightly, but they were still holding hands, then she was gone, with one last bright smile to her sister and some words of farewell. Jade's arm dropped and she looked to the ground.

"Go to her Cloud." Aeris said from my side, I looked down at her and saw her smiling at me. "Go to the woman you love." She said as she gently nudged me toward Jade. I walked over to her slowly, trying not to be to loud as I approached. Once I reached her she was still looking at the ground, on her knees, her hands now resting in her lap.

I fell to my knees behind her, and I could see her tense slightly. Her brown hair reached the ground from her crouched position, and the lilies brushed against the soft brown. I smiled ever so slightly before I leaned forward and wrapped my arms around her. Her body grew even more tense.

"Feel better?" I asked her gently, and her body almost immediately relaxed. She nodded her head slightly, she began to shift her position until she was sitting on the ground facing me, she had a smile on her face and she for once looked, truly, happy. I once again pulled her into my arms and hugged her to me.

Jade's POV

I couldn't believe what I was seeing. Arianna stood before me, her face bright with a smile, one that I hadn't seen sense forever. Her dark from hair was the same as I remembered it, her bright Mako eyes, her small innocent form. She was just as I had always remembered her, my baby sister, she was here.

"Hello again, big sis." She said in her small, but high voice.

"Arianna, is it…really you?" I asked quietly, she nodded her head and her dark curly brown hair bounced around her face.

"Why do you seek forgiveness, Luna?" she asked softly. Tears stung my eyes once more. The reason I had began calling myself Jade was because it hurt to much to remember when Ari had always called me Luna.

"Because, I let you die, I couldn't stop them and you died because of me." I said as tears leaked form my eyes, flowing down my cheeks. "Oh Ari! I'm so sorry." I wailed as I fell to my knees and embraced my younger sister, she wrapped her small arms around me tightly, reassuringly.

"You didn't kill me sister, it's not your fault. And I'm not alone, I still have mamma and papa. She said in her innocent voice, her face buried in my neck.

"Please forgive me Ari." I begged, she pulled her face from my shoulder so I could see her face.

"You don't need my forgiveness sister, she said as she pulled away from me entirely, but held my hands as she smiled at me. "You've grown so much, I almost didn't recognize you. She whispered and I smiled sadly, then she slowly seemed to fade away, I could hear her last words as she smiled to me as she passed on…_I never blamed you…not once…_

I let my hands fall back into my lap and just watched where she had stood, a small smile on my face. The tears still fell from my eyes, but they were not from pain for once, I was crying tears of joy. I could finally move on, and be happy with me life. I heard someone fall behind me, and my body began to tense up, for I didn't know who.

My eyes widened when they wrapped their arms around me, but them I heard the gentle voice in my ear and calmed.

"Feel better?" Cloud's voice was gentle and caring, I smiled and nodded my head slightly for him, before I turned to face him and smiled, finally at ease. Cloud's eyes seemed to light up and he pulled my in for another hug, but this one was different from the others, this one held only love.

I opened my eyes once more when I felt the rain pouring down on me, then the warm muscled arms of my favorite delivery boy. I smiled as I leaned my head back on his shoulder, his own chin resting on my shoulder.

"Ready to do back now?" Cloud asked as he smiled at me. I smiled back and nodded me head, before I got to my feet with Cloud doing the same, I smiled down at my sisters and my parents graves one last time before I turned to Cloud who offered my his hand. I gladly took it and let him lead my back to the front gates of the cemetery, content.

We were back on Fenrir and heading for the bar, it was freezing out and we both needed to put on some dry clothes before we cot a cold. I closed my eyes while Cloud wore his goggles, my arms wrapped around him holding on tight, my face buried in his back, between his shoulder blades. After a little while he began to slow slightly, though we weren't at the bar yet, and I could feel one of Cloud's hands come over mine, then entwine out fingers together.

I smiled into his shirt as I held onto his hands as well, my other placed over top of our entwined ones. He stayed at the slower pace as he drove the rest of the way to the bar. I thought that the ride couldn't have ended so quickly, and wished I could have held onto his hand for just a little while longer.

I got off the bike and a huge shiver caused my whole body to shake up uncontrollably. I felt something warm wrap around me and realized that Cloud had hugged my from behind, I smiled as looked back at him. Then another shiver hit me and with both began to walk to the door. Cloud released me so that we could both get inside, where Tifa stood with a shocked look.

"Remind me to buy a warmer jacket." I said trough chattering teeth and turn to go and get changed, Tifa giggled slightly and I could hear Cloud chuckling quietly behind me as he too made his way to his own room, both of us wanting to get out of these soaked and cold clothes.

I pulled on a pair of clean sweats and a loose tank top, pulling on a loose fitting sweat shirt that went with the pants. I stuffed my hands in the pockets and, guess what, I left my sword in my room. I walked down the stairs quietly, the bar wasn't open tonight so the kids were running around playing. Cloud was now dressed in the same attire, but dry, with a beer on the counter neck to him keeping an eye on the kids.

I stepped into the room and abruptly stopped. There was a tingling sensation running along my nose and a cursed mentally. I turned back around and sneezed loudly, the kids turned to me and giggled, and glared playfully at them, before they went back to their business. Cloud was smirking at me and I smirked back.

"So what, you don't get sick?" I asked, his smirk faded away and I yelled a 'HA!' in victory. "If I got sick then don't think for a minute that your going to be any better off." I said as I pointed an accusing finger at him. Tifa walked in then and looked between the both of us, before turning to me.

"Was that you I heard sneeze?" she asked as she grinned. I sighed and walked past her into the hallway toward the bathroom. I needed to blow my nose.

Tifa's POV

I watched as she disappeared down the hallway, then I could head another sneeze. I to try and suppress a giggle and turned to Cloud who was shaking his head. I raised an eyebrow at him and spoke up.

"She's right you know, you'll probably get sick too." I said and he glared slightly at me. Then the next thing that happened, I couldn't hold in my laughter. Cloud turned around quickly on the stool, before leaning over slightly, and letting loose a louder sneeze then Jade had. I leaned against the counter laughing and quieted down when Jade came back in holding a tissue box.

"Uh-huh, told you, now come on, Cloud" she said as she walked over and hook arms with Cloud, "Well suffer together, to the living room!" she said as she pointed the tissue box in the direction of her destination and began to march, pulling Cloud along with her. I was using the full support of the counter by now, my sides aching. Even when she's sick, she can lift anyone's mood. Marlene and Denzel were laughing to, both at how Jade was acting, and Cloud's new found cold.

"Hello!" Yuffie almost screamed about an hour later, it was about 7:00 and some of the guys were coming over as well. I shook my head at her and Marlene and Denzel replied with a cheerful hello back. I could faintly hear Jade call a 'hey' from the living room behind the bar, but I doubt Yuffie had even heard her.

The others arrived not to long after Yuffie had, and the sometimes asked where Cloud and Jade were, but all I could really do was giggle and walk away. After a while Yuffie was becoming frustrated, she wanted to see her friend, and she would tear this house apart until she found her. And Cloud too. After about 10 seconds of her hunt for Jade and Cloud, Yuffie came running back into the room and shushed everyone.

"Tifa! Tifa! You have to see this, come on!" she squealed, but it was low and barely heard.

"Alright already, I'm coming." I said as I let Yuffie drag me out of the room, Reno and Cid following as their curiosity got the better of them as to what had he hyper ninja even more hyperactive.

She pulled me into the living room, where the lamp beside the couch was on, making the room only have a faint glow. Then there was Jade and Cloud. Cloud was sitting on the couch normally, his arms folded over his chest, but his head had lulled back and he was breathing lightly, asleep. Jade was in a very different situation. She was lying on her stomach, across the entire couch, the upper half of her body draped over Cloud. She had a blanket covering her, and Cloud seemed to be using her as a blanket. Jade was breathing heavily, almost snoring really, and with her plugged nose, it was pretty funny.

"Well, now we know where they've been all night." Reno said with a smirk. I gabbed him in the gut with my elbow, before I walked into the room and draped another blanket over Cloud, putting a pillow under Jade's head so she didn't get a neck strain lying on the arm rest, and turned off the lamp.

"They both have colds." I said once we were all back in the bar, "they had been out in the rain today and got sick." I explained and Yuffie giggled.

"They looked so cute, and come to think of it, I don't think I've ever seen Cloud sick. His nose was all red." She said as she turned to face all the others. Cid rolled his eyes at her.

"That's what happens when you've got a cold." He said as he walked away from her, Yuffie glaring at him back.

"Well he didn't look very cold to me." Reno said, jealously in his voice, I smirked at him.

"Do you wish it was you that Jade had fallen asleep on?" I teased and he just turned and walked away, muttering something about 'dumb blonds' and 'if I had a cold'.

**Another Chapter! hope you all like it, and don't worry, i'm not going to skip out on when they have the colds, this'll be fun...**

**Please Review! BUT NO FLAMES!**


	10. You Say Achoo, I Say Bless You

**Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy...T.T**

_Also, i would like to dedicate this chapter to Kain Lockheart... Cloud has a cold...yes he does._

Sounds Of Rain

Chapter 10: You say Achoo, I Say Bless You

Tifa's POV

I walked down the stairs the next morning, feeling in a bit of a good mood for some reason. I stepped into the living room to see if Cloud or Jade had woken up yet and saw that they weren't on the Couch anymore, instead, they were on the floor.

Cloud was lying on his back with the blanket I had given him last night around his upper body, he had a pillow under his head and a tissue bow beside him. Jade was lying on her stomach, and she was using Cloud's chest as a pillow. She was wrapped up so tightly in her blanket that she looked like she was in cocoon.

I raised a hand to my lips to stop the laugh that was coming up. Cloud's nose was red from sneezing as well as Jade's, but Jade's face was also red, and it looked like she was blushing. Her hair was a total mess, small hairs pointed out all over the place. And Cloud, well, I had always thought his hair couldn't get messier, but here he was, with his spikes in disarray and some sticking out in odd directions.

Suddenly, Jade rolled away from Cloud, nearly hitting the table that was there, covering her face with the blanket and sneezing…loudly. Cloud woke up, jumping slightly, and groaning. Grabbing his head, I could only guess he had a headache. Jade looked over her shoulder at him and giggled, before turning to sneeze again, a loud ACHOO, echoing in the room.

"Bless you." Cloud said from where he was and Jade grunted in response.

"So…sleep well?" I asked as I looked down at them from the door. Cloud groaned again and Jade glared at me, but her face looked to hilarious to be scary.

"Shud up." She said through her sickness, and I giggled slightly. Jade picked herself up off the floor, turning toward the door, while Cloud fell back down on the couch. "I wan soup." Jade said as she took a step toward the door, but her legs got tangled in the blankets and she fell to the side, landing on top of Cloud on the couch.

"Ow." Cloud and Jade groaned in unison, Cloud's face buried in a pillow as he laid on his stomach and Jade's face buried in Cloud's neck as she laid on her stomach, on top of him.

"I'll make you guys some soup." I giggled as I turned and left, hear a muttered 'thanks' from Jade and a grunt from Cloud.

Jade's POV

"Get off." Cloud said as he looked slightly over his shoulder at me.

"Nu-uh, I'm comfortable." I retaliated as I snuggled my face back into his neck, before kissing the warm flesh. Cloud shuddered and shifted position slightly, causing me to slip in between his legs.

"This is not very comfortable." Cloud mumbled into the pillow.

"Then maybe you should have gotn' a bigger couch." I mumbled back, though my stuffy nose wasn't helping.

"Shud up." Cloud groaned, and shifted once more, but instead, this time we were both taken to the ground. I let out a started yelp as my back collided with the ground, then Cloud's unexpected weight on top of me. I groaned at how heavy he was, and how weak I was at the moment.

"Cloud, your heavy." I pouted, squirming slightly under him.

"Deal wit it." He said back, and I giggled at how odd he sounded with a cold.

I closed my eyes and laid my head back, Cloud moved away from me so that he wasn't totally on top of me and rested his head on my shoulder, hiding his face in my neck. I pulled a pillow off the couch and rested my head on that so I was a little more comfortable. Cloud's left arm draped over my stomach while his right hand held onto mine.

I heard a loud crash from the kitchen area, then a started Tifa yelling 'Yuffie!' I groaned when I heard Yuffie's loud, very loud, voice calling my name. I tried to tide under Cloud again and he chuckled. I glared down at him and looked over to the door when I heard running, but it wasn't Yuffie.

"Cloud!" Two young children ran into the room, loud and awake. Cloud didn't move, nor did he answer, it only took me a second to realize that he had fallen asleep.

"Jade, Tifa said you and Cloud were sick, are you alright?" Marlene asked as she stood beside Denzel, who was staring down at a sleeping Cloud's arm that was around my waist with what seemed to be a dark look.

"Just a cold, we'll be ok in a day or two." I said, and Marlene giggled at how I sounded. "Hey." I winded and she just smiled at me. "Morning Denzel." I said to him, and he seemed to jump. "Is everything ok, you look kind of upset." I said as I looked at him, he blushed slightly and shook his head.

"No! I'm fine, come on Marlene, lets go get some breakfast." Denzel said as he took Marlene's hand and began to pull her out of the room, Marlene waved as she left and I did my best to wave back, before my head hit the pillow again and I follow Cloud's example and fell asleep again.

After a while, Tifa had gotten fed up with mine and Cloud's bickering about how the couch was uncomfortable, and soon, literally, sent us to our rooms. So now I was lying on my bed, the covers wrapped tightly around me, and my face hidden in a pillow. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't fall asleep.

I huffed as I sat up, pulling on a sweat shirt, then pulling myself out of bed. I walked over to the door and peaked out into the hall, making sure Tifa wasn't there, then walked over to Cloud's door, shutting my own as I left. I didn't bother knocking, just opened the door and peaked inside. The covers were covering him entirely, head and all. I crept into the room, silently closing the door behind me, then creeping over to the bed. Pulling aside the blankets I slipped into the bed and smuggled up to the warmth inside.

"What are you doing?" Cloud asked sleepily.

"Couldn't sleep." I mumbled back, cuddling into Cloud's back. Cloud sighed before he went back to sleep, and let me stay with him. I wrapped my arms around his stomach and brought myself closer to him, hiding my face in between his shoulder blades.

Cloud took a quick intake of breath, before he let it out in a loud sneeze. I began to giggle into his shirt and he groaned, only causing my laughing to increase. Cloud shifted around and turned to face me, causing me to release him from my arms. His face was tired, but there was a fain smile there, one that looked heavenly on his tanned face.

"Must you laugh at me?" Cloud asked almost like he was pouting.

I just chuckled and shook my head. Cloud's smile never left as he inched closer to me and placed a gentle kiss on my lips, before pulling back. I smiled at him and moved up against him, placing my head under his chin and enjoying his warmth. Before I started to talk again.

Tifa's POV

I looked into Jade's room and saw the bed empty. I swear that girl has problems with staying in one place for to long. I walked down to Cloud's room and heard talking inside, I leaned against the door and listened intently, it was Jade's voice!

"_Cloud, is there something between you and Tifa?"_

"_I love Tifa like a sister, but there's nothing 'going on' between us."_

"_Oh…ok."_

"_Why do you ask?"_

"_No reason, never mind."_

"_Jade…"_

"_What!?"_

My eyes widened and I chanced a look inside, silently opening the door just a crack. Jade and Cloud were both lying in his bed, Cloud's arms wrapped protectively around her, while Jade's head was tucked tightly under his chin. I smiled slightly at the scene. I should have known they would get together. I didn't really think of Cloud that way anymore, maybe a few months ago, but I've moved on from that.

"Tifa." Jade's voice caused me to jump, and I looked over to them again.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt." I said hastily, Cloud was watching me intently, a questioning look in his eyes, as though silently asking 'what the hell do you think you're doing?' while Jade's eyes remained closed. Before she sat up and saw the look Cloud was giving and forced him to turn his head away.

"Not interrupting, I couldn't sleep so I came here to annoy Cloud." She said, she sounded a lot better then she had this morning.

"Are you two…" I asked, trailing off, she knew what I was asking.

"We haven't really talked about that." Jade said quietly, looking down at the covers.

"Do I get a say?" Cloud said as he sat up as well, and Jade grinned, before turning to face him.

"Nope." She said as she pushed him back down onto the bed, causing him to fall into the pillows once again. I stifled a laughed as Jade turned to smile at me again and I could see that she was actually really happy.

"Well, I'll leave you two to your rest." I said with a smile, Jade returned the smiled and Cloud waved a hand from behind Jade. I laughed slightly as I closed the door. I could hear them start to talk again, before I walked back down the hall to check on the kids in their room.

Cloud's POV

"What was that for?" I asked as Jade turned to look at me again. She smiled evilly at me, and I raised an eyebrow in question. What was with that look?

"Oh, I don't know **what** you're talking about." She said as she looked away innocently. I glared playfully, before I sat up quickly, tackling Jade to the mattress so that she was lying beneath me and I was straddling her hips, I leaned forward and brought my lips to her ear.

"So, I don't get a say huh?" I asked with mischief in my voice.

"Nu-uh." She said back, and I could tell she was grinning.

"We'll see about that." I said as I nipped slightly on her neck, her breath hitched and she squirmed slightly under me.

"Cloud, I'm tired, get off." She pouted as she tried to push me away, but I just let all my weight fall down onto her, and I knew that she was tired and wouldn't be able to move me away. "You're so not being fair." She complained as she tried pushing my off again, but I was nothing but dead weight.

"Tell me I have a say…"I said and she glared at me. "Come on." I urged her on, she huffed.

"Fine, you have a say." She pouted and I lifted myself off of her, smirking. "You're no fun Cloud Strife." She said as she rolled away from me, lying at the end of the bed. I grinned when saw the exposed flesh of her neck and nipped down on it, causing her to yelp and jump slightly.

"Oh really?" I asked and as soon as she turned toward me, her mouth open as she was about to protest, I sealed her lips with mine, silencing her coming complaint, and causing her to jump again in surprise.

"Mm!" I think she was trying to say something, but I had a feeling it was hard to try and talk with someone's tongue in your mouth. I smirked against her lips and pressed down harder, earning a chocked moan from her throat.

Her fingers came up to tangle in my hair, gripping it tightly, while I held her sides to the mattress, as her body wiggled to try and get free without having to use bruit force. She shifted slightly and one of her knees brushed up in between my legs and I groaned loudly, pleasure shoting through my body.

Jade pulled away with an amused look, before she glanced down and smirked. I could feel my cheeks heat up slightly as she looked back up at me, the same smirk still on her face. Her breathing was heavy and her chest rose up and down heavily, breathless from the kiss. I was panting too, but not entirely for the same reason.

"You have no idea…what that feels like…" I whispered in her ear, and she visibly shivered. I smirked again, knowing that I was the cause of her shiver, but I knew it was definitely not through fear…

**Finally, sorry for the wait, but i had two tests that i had to study for. please, it's like my fuel, the more reviews, the faster i'll update, BUT NO FLAMES!**


	11. My Light In The Darkness

**Disclaimer: i do not own Final Fantasy**

* * *

**The Sounds OF Rain**

**Chapter 11: Darkness And Light**

My cold was gone, thank god, and Cloud was off doing his deliveries again. Tifa was in the kitchen, kids were at school, and there was nothing to do. I sat at one of the tables of the bar, staring into the empty tea cut, that was like my fifth this morning. I groaned and my head fell onto the table, a loud BANG echoing through the room, and I heard Tifa call my name.

"Jade? Are you alright?"

"Hn." Was my oh-so-intelligent response. Tifa's boots made dull thuds as she walked from the kitchen into the bar room, drying her hands on a cloth.

"Come on jade, what's wrong?" she asked as she sat down beside me, I rolled my head to the side so my temple was resting on the table top and I could look up at her.

"I am bored out of my mind." I stated simply and she smiled. Why was she smiling, did she think it was funny when I was like this or something, I glared at her and she covered her mouth with her hand, now I was getting pissed. "And just what is so funny?" I asked as her cheeks began to turn pink from holding in her laugh. I nearly jumped out of my skin when I felt something cold and wet press against the back of my exposed neck. "HOLY SHIT!" I yelled as I jumped from my seat, knocking the chair back. I spun around to come face to face with a very amused looking Cloud. "Oh you two are just plain evil." I said as I glared at the both of them. "Just for that, I'm not going to welcome you home." I had gotten into the habit of welcoming Cloud home with a kiss, but now I was pissed.

"Come on, that was funny Luna." Cloud said, and my temper faded slightly at my first name, he only called me that when he was trying to calm me down, and with remembering that, my temper flared again.

"To you, what the hell was that?" I asked as I rubbed my now wet neck.

Cloud simply held up his wet glove, that was cold from the air while riding his bike and wet from the melted snow. I rolled my eyes and finished wiping the water from my neck, of all the days to wearing my hair up, it had to be the one where Cloud was into practical jokes.

"So Cloud, there's supposed to be a storm later, get all the deliveries done?" Tifa asked casually, as though nothing had happened.

"Yea, that's why I had left earlier then usual, I heard it was supposed to be at least a foot." Ge said back and took of the wet gloves, I glared at them as he set them on the table, damn him and his leather gloves.

"Well the kids will be happy about that, maybe the school will be shut down." I said as I leaned against one of the tables, watching them both. They are not to be trusted at the moment. Tifa smiled.

"Got that right, we're all going to have headaches after she let out their joy through screaming and yelling." Tifa chuckled, she was truly like a mother to them, and it suited her. I opened my mouth to speak again but was interrupted when someone screamed in my ear.

"HEY JADE!" I jumped, nearly tripping over my own feet, and spun around to see a snow covered Yuffie.

"What the hell! Are you people planning against me or something?! Is Reno going to jump out of a closet at me?!" I asked as I looked around and Tifa and Yuffie burst out laughing, Cloud trying to hide his amusement but failing miserably.

"Something tells me I missed a couple of things here." Yuffie said as she turned to Cloud and Tifa.

"Cloud surprised Jade when he came in by pressing his wet glove to the back of her neck, you should have seen her face." Tifa said in the midst of laughing, I glared at the three of them.

"Honestly, is Vincent going to bust through a window at any moment?" I asked as I looked around. This brought on a whole new round of laughs from the AVALANCH group members present. "Cause if he is, tell me now."

"We're not planning this Jade, I guess you're just having a bad day." Yuffie said as she clapped me on the back, and surprisingly, it hurt. My back felt strangely sore, though I was clue less as to why. I flinched at the odd sensation and Yuffie gave me a concerned look. "You ok?"

"Yea, my back just hurts…I'll be right back." I said as I turned to head toward the washroom, I could feel the stares of the three on my back, but I just headed toward my room, where my bathroom was. Once the door was closed and locked I lifted the back of my shirt and turned my back to the mirror, trying to see if something was wrong. But there was nothing there, my back was as bare as it had been after Cloud had cured the Stigma, I sighed as I lowered my shirt, what was going on?

I stepped out of the bathroom and closed the door behind me, my eyebrows knitted together in confusion. I looked toward the door and saw Cloud leaning against the frame, his arms folded over his chest and a look of concern etched into his features.

"What's wrong?" He asked, but remained where he was.

"I don't know, I just have a really sore back." I said as I walked toward him, and he looked confused for a moment. "Probably just some way I had slept." I said as I walked past him, making my way toward the bar once again.

"Alright." Cloud mumbled as he walked after me, not asking anything else, cause he knew, there was no more to tell.

* * *

"Cloud…remember when Tifa asked us if we were…together?"

"Yea."

"Well, are we, I mean, I think it's time we actually talked about that?" I said as I looked over to him. Cloud had his chin propped up in his palm, his elbow resting on the table top. I was leaning back in my chair, playing with some of my hair.

"Well, what do you think? Honestly." He said as he looked seriously at me.

"In all honestly, I don't think we're dating officially, but I do want to." I said as I looked at the ceiling, just staring into space. I could hear Cloud get up but never looked away, to look toward him. I could hear him walk around the table before he came into view above me, and I was slightly startled when I saw the smile on his lips.

"Me too." He said before he leaned down and gave me an upside down kiss, which I silently sighed into, letting my body relax slightly as I kissed him back.

I could hear someone clear their throat and looked out of the corner of my eye to see Yuffie and Tifa standing in the doorway to the kitchen, I just waved my hand at them, in a shooing motion, causing Tifa to shake her head and Yuffie to laugh out loud. Cloud pulled back and looked over at them with a smirk on his lips.

"Enjoy the show?" he asked and Yuffie laughed again, while I joined in with her. Before I pulled gently on Cloud's hair, making him kiss me again, his smirk still in place. I liked this, he was happy, and I'm glad. Tifa smiled happily at us, and pulled Yuffie from the room, leaving us to ourselves.

"Cloud I…" I trailed off as I looked off to the door that Yuffie and Tifa used to be standing, and he looked curiously at me. "Never-mind." I said as I shook my head, smiling at him. I wasn't ready, not yet at least.

"Alright…" he said hesitantly. The room suddenly went black, and I looked around, I could see fine, but Tifa and Yuffie might not be as lucky.

"Powers out!" Yuffie called from the kitchen and I rolled my eyes. I let the chair fall back onto all four legs and got to my feet, Cloud straightening up. I walked toward the kitchen and saw Yuffie using the counter to looked for the door, but it was funny because her eyes were closed and her face squinted in concentration.

"What are you doing?" I asked and she did the last thing I expected, she screamed…really loudly. I flinched and covered my ears. "Holy hell Yuffie, jeez what's the matter with you?" I asked as I tried to hear her, my ears still ringing.

"You startled me!" she defended and I sighed.

"You guys have a flashlight somewhere?" I asked as I looked back at Cloud, who stood behind me now, then to Tifa, who was shuffling through drawers.

"Cloud! Tifa!" the kids screamed from their room, and I turned to the stairs.

"I'll go check on the kids, look for some light." I said before running off, Cloud going into the kitchen to try and help Tifa find something to see where the others were going. I stepped into the kids room and saw them sitting on one bed, Denzel trying to calm a trembling Marlene.

"Tifa?" Denzel asked, looking up.

"No, it's Jade." I said as I walked in, "Cloud and Tifa are looking for a flash light or a candle or something." I said as I came in, then got an idea. "Stay here, I'll be right back."

I ran into my room, searched quickly for my bag, and got out my cell phone. I flipped it open, full battery. I walked back into the kids room with the cell phone, using it as I light for them. I placed it open on the nightstand and sat down on the bed next to them.

"Marlene? Are you alright?" I asked as I gently stroked her hair.

"She's afraid of the dark." Denzel said and I nodded, then pulled Marlene's face to look up at me.

"It's ok Marlene, look, there's light." I said as I motioned to the light given by the phone, which was able to light nearly the whole room, but it wasn't as bright as a room light, far from it. Marlene nodded her head and smiled slightly, her eyes shining with threatening tears. I crawled onto the bed and leaned against the headboard, motioning for the kids to come to me.

Marlene laid on one side of me, her head resting on my chest as her small hands held onto the material of my top. Denzel rested his head on my shoulder and I wrapped my arms around them both, the heater wasn't going to work if the power was out, and it the storm was going to be bad then it would get pretty cold in here.

"Denzel, could you get the other blanket, it's going to get pretty cold in here." I asked gently and he retrieved it quickly, while Marlene wrapped in this blanket. Denzel sat back at my other side and looked up at me.

"What about you, won't you get cold?" he asked and I shook my head.

"Don't worry, I'll be alright." I said and he nodded his head, before resting it on my shoulder once again, Marlene doing the same. I rested my head back on the headboard of the bed and closed my eyes, it was already getting cold in here, but with Marlene on one side of me and Denzel on the other I was going to get hot before I got cold.

* * *

~Tifa's POV~

"Yuffie, you take this flashlight before you kill yourself." I said as I tossed one to her, which she caught easily and turned it on. Cloud had found a lighter and candles so the room was bright with the light of the flame.

"What's taking Jade so long, I thought she was just going to check on the kids." Yuffie said as she turned the light back off so as not to waist the battery.

"Come on, let's go check. Marlene's afraid of the dark so she probably just doesn't want her to leave." I said as I to picked up a flashlight, Cloud not needing on with the Mako letting him see better in the dark then the rest of us.

Yuffie led the way as she walked up the stairs to the kids room, stepping into the room, then turning to us and putting a finger to her lips, silently telling us to be quiet. We followed her in and saw Jade lying on the bed, Marlene on the right and Denzel on the left. They were both wrapped tightly in their blankets and Jade had her arms around the both of them. Her head had fallen forward and her cheek was pressed to the top of Denzel's head, his own head resting on her chest just like Marlene. They were both holding onto her shirt tightly, as though she was their light.

"Look, who's phone is that?" Yuffie asked as she pointed to an open cell phone on the nightstand. It was providing some light in the previously dark room.

"It must be Jade's." I said as I shrugged.

"Should we wake up the kids?" Yuffie asked as she lowered her light so it would shine in any of their faces.

"No." Cloud said quietly, "Let them sleep, Jade too." Cloud said as he turned to the door, motioning for us to follow, which we did, silently.

* * *

The storm had died down a bit, but it was still way to windy out, Yuffie had taken Jade's room, seeing as how she was not using it tonight, and Cloud had gone to his own room, or so he said, but I saw when he slipped into the kid's room instead.

I peaked inside and saw Cloud sitting by Jade's head, on the side that Marlene was lying on. He was gently raking his fingers through Jade's hair, and she leaned slightly into his touch. Cloud the turned to her cell phone and flipped it shut, plunging the room into darkness. I smiled as I headed to my own room for the night, after making sure that all of the candles were out, using a flashlight to find my way.

* * *

**There, sorry if that chapter kind of jumps around alot, but i just kind of wrote what came to mind.**

**i know it's been a while, but PLEASE REVIEW! but NO flames, if you don't like the story, not my problem.**


	12. Boys First Crush

**The Sounds Of Rain**

**Chapter 12:Boys First Crush**

I could feel my body was hot. Really hot. Peaking one eye open, I could only see golden yellow. Furrowing my brows in confusion, the softness of something tickled my cheeks, and I inhaled Cloud's calming sent. Lifting my head, or at least, attempting to. My neck ached from the movement, after having my head resting forward for the whole night, it cramped up.

More slowly this time, I straightened until I was sitting up and looked down. Somewhere in the night, Marlene had moved to lying on Cloud's lap, and he moved to lay where Marlene had been, causing him to end up right beside me. Marlene's head was resting on his chest and her arms wrapped loosely around his neck, while the blanket still covered her.

Cloud's head was lying on my chest, his left hand holding mine. His legs were lifted up on the bed, his boots still on. He looked comfortable, though his jeans looked like they weren't the best things to sleep in. My head had fallen forward into his hair, and even now his wonderful smell filled my senses. Denzel was still on my right side, his head now on my stomach and his hands grasping my shirt, the rest of his body curled up into my side.

"G'morning." The whispered voice made me looked up, against straining my neck. Tifa stood in the doorway with two cups of coffee in her hands. There was steam coming from the cups and I knew that they would be delicious if Tifa had made them.

"That's teasing." I whispered back, and she laughed quietly. Walking forward, she placed the cups on the kids dresser, then turned toward me again, a mischievous look in her eyes.

"This'll be a lot easier on you if you just pretend to be asleep, that's what Cloud always did." I raised an eyebrow before laying my head back on Cloud's, my neck and shoulders protesting. "TIME TO GET UP!" I could feel Cloud stiffen slightly under me, knowing he had woken, but he didn't move other then that. Tifa was right.

Marlene and Denzel immediately got moving, my shirt and Cloud's neck were released once more, and the heat surrounding my body vanished, allowing me to cool. Small shuffling feet sounded around the bed, before Tifa spoke to the kids again.

"Let them sleep, I'm sure they're tired." Tifa whispered, trying to make it seem like we were asleep still. Two mumbled, "okay's", and the kids were on their way down stairs. "So, Cloud likes black, and you like yours with cream, right Jade?" Tifa asked once the kids were away. I lifted my head again, against my true will to continue lying my head on Cloud's soft hair, and saw her standing at the end of the bed with the mugs again.

"Mhm." I mumbled, as she held them out. Cloud lifted his head from my chest and sat up. I too righted myself, and crawled to the end of the bed, taking the mug that Tifa held out to me, as well as Cloud's.

"You don't have any deliveries for today Cloud, so if you two want to sleep in you can, just got to your own rooms." She said, walking back out through the door. Turning toward Cloud, I looked just in time to see him with his arms above his head in a large stretch. He wasn't wearing the sleeve or armour that was usually on his left arm, and his zipper was lower than usual on his shirt. I must have been staring, before the black coffee was suddenly missing from my left hand.

"Like what you see, huh?" Cloud's voice whispered in my ear and a sly grin found my lips.

"Mmm, yes....." I whispered back, turning my face ever so slightly so that my lips could find his, starting a close exchange of a long kiss. My free hand lifted to place on his cheek, stroking the soft skin of his cheek. After what seemed like too short a time, we pulled back, though Cloud continued to lean his forehead against mine

"We should go before the kids find us and want to play hide and seek or something." He said, gently taking hold of my arm and guiding me from the bed. I followed after him, and leaned my head on his shoulder as we walked from the children's room and started to head toward our own. When we came to Cloud's room, I released him, kissed him on the lips one more time, before slipping down toward my own door.

A warm shower was just what I needed to wake me up, but all through it my neck was still aching. Moving through my room, I got a clean pair of loose baggy jean pants, a royal blue t-shirt and a black sweater to go over top of it. I feared to look out my window. My bed was messed up, which made my curious as to who was in my room.

Leaving my swords in my room, I slipped out the door again and turned to head down the stairs. I could hear Yuffie and Tifa talking, as well as the kids. Holding the now empty coffee cut, I walked into the kitchen where the others all were. Cloud must still have been in his room, because his spot was empty. Walking over to the sink, I placed the mug inside, calling a good morning over my shoulder.

"SNOW DAY!" Both kids screamed, making me chuckle slightly.

Rolling my shoulders, trying to relieve the ache that seemed to have spread downward through from my neck, and clenched my teeth together. I jumped slightly when warm hands gently gripped my shoulders, digging into the tight muscles.

"How long were you in the position?" Cloud's breath brushed my ear and cheek and I held back a shiver. His thumbs pressed harder into the knots of my shoulders and I could hear Marlene giggle from behind us at the table.

"What?" I asked, looking over Cloud's shoulder at her, giving her a playful glare. She just giggled again and ran from the room, Denzel following behind her with a sour look. Tifa watched him go, than gasped slightly, as though she had just gotten a brilliant idea.

"What is it?" I asked her, holding back a groan when Cloud's fingers continued working on my shoulders. I laughed slightly when he started moving lower on my back, where I was severely ticklish.

"Is it just me, or does Denzel get really sour when he see's you with Cloud?" She asked, and I looked up at Cloud, who had a look of recognition in his eyes.

"Yea, he does."

"And this morning, when he woke up and saw that his head was resting on your stomach, his face went so red." She continued, and my mouth fell open.

"Are you tell me he's-"

"Got a crush on you." She finished, and I could feel rather then hear the laugh that passed through Cloud.

"Well, this makes much more since. I've been noticing him acting odd ever since she came to stay here, but I didn't think it was cause he liked her. She's over 10 years older than him." Cloud explained when I gave him a dirty look.

"Poor boy."

"Poor boy? Poor me! I got an admirer that lives in the same house and looks up to my boyfriend as a father figure!" I groaned out, making them both laugh again, Cloud's much quieter and sounding more like a small chuckle. "Oh shut it." Yuffie, who had fallen asleep with her head in her empty bowl of cereal, shot up.

"What'd I miss!?" This time I joined in the laughter.

Kids played all along the snowy streets, throwing snow balls at one another and making forts and bases. I sat on the steps of the bar watching over Marlene and Denzel as Tifa cleaning up breakfast and Cloud got ready in his room. I ducked just in time for a snowball to go sailing past my head. Looking up in shock, I saw Marlene and Denzel high five.

"You two are SO dead!" I yelled, running toward them. Marlene screamed slightly as she tried to duck away from me, but I was able to wrap and arm around her waist and pulled her back, bringing Denzel back when he too tried to run. "Ha ha, I got you both now." I whispered in their ears. Marlene was laughing happily, still trying to squirm away, while Denzel was turning the color of a tomato. Tifa was right again.

Denzel suddenly broke away and ran away a couple of yards, and I wrapped my arm around Marlene so that there was no way that she could get away. I smiled to Denzel, not really knowing what it would do to him. His blush got worse.

"Well, fine, I'll just take Marlene in for some hot chocolate, and you can stay and play out here." I said, and picked Marlene up and carried her under my arm so that her legs were in front of me, and she was holding onto the back of my trench coat, laughing the whole time.(A/N: encase anyone doesn't know how she was holding Marlene, it's kind of like how you would carry a laptop under your arm)

"Hey, wait!" I could hear Denzel call my name as I stepped into the bar, placing Marlene on her feet again. Denzel ran in after us, and not expecting us to stop, ran right into the backs of my legs. I let out a slight squeal of surprise as I tipped forward, but never hit the floor.

"Careful you two." Tifa warned, as I looked up to see that I was in Cloud's arms, who was looking down at me with an amused look.

"What?"

"You're covered in snow." He said, and lifted a hand to brush my hair, white falling onto the floor.

"Oh..." I mumbled, looking down at myself. My shoulders and all along my coat were indeed covered in snow, white and sparkly.

"Jade, can we have some hot chocolate now?" Marlene asked, tugging on my trench coat.

"Sure." Shrugging out of my coat, I draped it over one of the chairs and Marlene took my hand, leading me to the kitchen, and Denzel ran after us. They had already shed off their snow gear and were back in their everyday indoor clothes. Marlene and Denzel ran to go and find something on television as I made the hot chocolate. It was a pot, so there would be enough for seconds and Tifa, Yuffie and Cloud in case they wanted some.

The smell of the chocolate caused the other two women to migrate into the kitchen, causing me to laugh when they rested their chins on my shoulder and watched as I stirred the warm drink. They took in deep breaths, sighing. When they went for spoons, that's when I booted them out of the kitchen, hearing Cloud's laugh from the bar.

Later on that night, Marlene and Denzel were sitting in front of the couch, watching the t.v that was showing some Christmas movie I wasn't paying attention to, Tifa was sitting on the couch half asleep, and Yuffie had decided to head out before it started snowing again. Cloud and I were laying on his bed, him leaning against the headboard, with his legs spread, I was sitting in between his legs with my back to his chest. I laid my head back on his shoulder and tried to roll my neck.

"Is your neck still bothering you?" Cloud asked in a whisper.

"It's just a little sore." I said, my voice matching his.

"Here, move forward a bit." He whispered quietly, and I did as told and scooted forward slightly, straightening my back. Cloud bent his knees and leaned forward toward me, before I felt his hands on my shoulders for the second time. He began to kneed the tight muscles there, rolling his thumbs around the base and further up my neck.

I wasn't able to hold in my pleased moan, the tightening of my shoulders quickly beginning to wear away. He made sure not to go to low for my ticklish weakness, and only stayed at the high point of my shoulders. I wasn't aware that I had slowly been leaning back into Cloud until his hands still moving on my shoulders and his lips met the skin on my neck.

I gasped in surprise, before I had to silence myself from groaning. His hands came from my shoulders and moved around to wrap around my stomach, pulling my up close to his chest as he continued to kiss and nip at my neck. I twisted my body around so I was facing him, bringing my lips down onto his. Cloud laid back, leaving me to lay in top of him, with my legs between his.

His hands slowly moved to my hips, before they slipped under my shirt, his hands sliding over the soft skin that was on the small of my back. I kissed him more forcefully, licking at his lips, which he opened gratefully as his own tongue met mine. Pulling my shirt up higher, the cool air of the room made me shiver and arch for warm hands again.

This was going to be a long night.


	13. Waking Dreams

**Sounds Of Rain**

**Chapter 13:Waking Dreams**

**~Tifa~**

I walked the sleepy children back up to their room, the crash after having so much hot-chocolate making them half dead as they walked. They went straight to their room, knowing I would be in to say good night once they were dressed for bed and in bed. As I was walking past Jade's room, I could see that her door was open, with no one inside, and she wasn't in the washroom either.

Sneaking to Cloud's door, I stood listening for a moment, before the sound of a soft moan from inside made me cover my mouth and back away, eyes wide. I better get the kids to bed fast, cause they are either very quiet, or just beginning. Quickly moving away, I heard another moan, louder, and this one was male.

Nearly running to the kids room, they looked at me questioningly, but I just smiled and walked over to tuck them in. Kissing each on the forehead, they bid me a good night, with one last 'sweet dreams' I closed their door and sighed in relief. I couldn't hear Cloud and Jade from here, so hopefully they won't either.

**~Jade~**

Light poured in through the open window, shining over my eyes. Warmth surrounded me, and I smiled in remembering just why I was so warm right now. I could feel Cloud's hand resting on one of my bare hips as I lay on my side. His other arm was under my head, allowing me to use it as a pillow. He lay behind me, still asleep. His warm breath on the back of my neck made the hairs stand on end.

Closing my eyes again, I smiled softly, moving back, closer into Cloud's bare chest. The closer contact made him shift, the hand on my hip moving until his whole arm was wrapped around my body, pulling me up close to him as he buried his face in my neck and long hair.

I sighed happily as I gently traced patterns on his arm, my nails just a ghost over his skin. Cloud sighed into my neck and tucked my body into his, bending his knees, forcing me to bend mine, and curled up behind me. My face heated up against my will when Cloud's arm raised to push my breasts up slightly, settling there. My breathing and heart rate increased, and I could feel Cloud stir slightly.

"Hm, excited?" Cloud whispered against my neck, causing me to shiver against my will.

"Cloud..." I moaned slightly, leaning my head back and arching slightly. Cloud's hand slid down my bare stomach, stopping just below my bellybutton. His teeth found my ear and nibbled on the skin there, his tongue snaking out to lick from the top curve down to my earring. He then moved down to kiss over my pulse point gently.

"Hmmmm..." He made a soft humming sound, the vibrations causing me to gasp, the feelings it caused ran shudders through my body. He knew my weakness. I turned in Cloud's arm, looking up at him with pleading eyes. Cloud's lips found mine in the next second and I wrapped my arms around his neck, moulding my body against him. The warmth of his bare chest made me wish for more contact. My wish was granted when Cloud wrapped his arms around me, tucking my legs against his, engulfing me in heat.

**~*~**

Walking down the stairs, my damp hair was pulled up into a high pony tail, leaving my bangs in my face. I couldn't hide or stop the large smile that was plastered on my face. I walked into the kitchen and looked around, seeing that Tifa was already getting the kids breakfast ready. It was the weekend so they didn't have school, meaning that they were still asleep.

"Is he that good?" Tifa's back was still to me, but my whole body froze at her words. When she looked back at me, she raised a curious eyebrow with a knowing smirk. Oh my god......

"You-"

"Heard you, yea." She turned back to the kid's breakfast on the stove and my face turned a vibrant red. "So?" I walked up behind Tifa and stole a strip of bacon that was still on the plate, whispering.

"You have no idea." I then turned and got myself a cup to make some coffee. Tifa giggled at my words.

"You must tell me all about it." She whispered back, walking to the table as she placed down the kids plate. "Could you go and get the kids up while I make you coffee, we both know mines best." She teased, causing me to stick my tongue out at her, but I still walked out of the room back toward the stairs.

Peeking into the kids room, Marlene and Denzel were both still sleeping soundly in their beds, tucked up in their blankets against the cool air. Walking over to them, I hopped onto Marlene's bed, causing the girl to wake up with a giggle. She looked up at me with laughter in her eyes, and I glanced over to see that Denzel had woken at Marlene's giggle.

"Come on you sleepy heads, it's time for breakfast." I said as I slipped off the bed. They got up fast after the smell of bacon slipped through the air, and they ran down stairs to get their breakfast, leaving me to walk after them. Stepping into the kitchen, Tifa was waiting there with my morning coffee, the warm smell greeting my nose. Taking to coffee, I jumped slightly when arms came around my waist, making me smile and glance back at Cloud's sleepy face.

"You left." He whispered.

"You were asleep." I said back, before I gaped as he took my coffee from my hand. "You drink black." I warned as he brought the mug to his lips and drank down the warm liquid. He just smiled and handed me back the half empty mug.

"Not always." He whispered, before kissing me lightly on the temple and moving to get his own breakfast. I stuck my tongue out again the second time that morning, before I walked over and hopped up so I was sitting on the counter in front of the coffee pot, stopped him front getting to it. I finished mine off, knowing that he would take it if he couldn't get his own. "Jade." His voice held warning, but it almost sounded playful.

"Oh, I'm sorry, am I in your way?" I asked in an innocent voice, not moving. I placed my now empty cup on the counter beside me as Cloud placed his hands on the counter on either side of my legs, looking up as I was now a few inches taller than him.

"Yes, you are." I smirked as I leaned down and whispered to him.

"To bad."

Cloud let loose an evil smile, causing me to move back, realizing I might have just signed my own death slip. Wrapping one arm around my waist, he threw me onto his shoulder, causing me to let loose a small scream of surprise. Tifa laughed slightly where she sat with the kids, a fork hovering before her mouth. The kids were talking happily though, totally oblivious about what was happening behind them.

"Cloud, not this early." She laughed, and I was placed back on my feet, facing a grinning Cloud. He walked past me, heading toward the counter to get his breakfast while I was out of the way. As he passed me I did something that surprise the both of us, as well as Tifa. I smacked him in the butt, before bolting from the room. I could hear Tifa's laugh and see the shock on Cloud's face as I disappeared.

Wrapping myself up in my long coat, I stepped out of the bar with Tifa at my side. She had asked me if I wanted to go with her out Christmas shopping, and I couldn't say no, after all, I had to get some things as well. Stepped through the slushy streets, we made our way to the better stores in town, looking for some new toys for the kids, and things for the rest of the team as well.

"So, what are you going to be getting Cloud?" She asked as she looked over at me, causing me to blush.

"Well, I'm still looking." I said, but with the look she gave me I sighed. "Alright, so I haven't even tried." I admitted, getting a laugh out of her.

"I could give you a tip for something to give him." Tifa offered. We were coming up to the shops in town that usually cost a lot of money, like, this is the last one ever made, kind of money. As we were walking past some, I glanced into the window, and something silver and shiny caught my eye. I knew just what I was getting.

"Uh....you keep going, I'm going to see if I can find your gift." I said, making her smile.

"Alright, I'll be just a few stores down if you need me." As she walked away, I darted into the store, looking for what I had seen before. Walking up to the shelf, I looked down at the beautiful silver necklace that showed a shocking resemblance to the earring the Cloud wore. It was well polished and larger than the earring, showing more of the body of the wolf.

"Can I help you, Miss?" Glancing back, there was a man that looked to be in his late 50's. He had a kind face and was smiling at me, showing his missing teeth. I smiled back and straightened from where I was leaning over to look at the pendant.

"Yes, um...how much does this pendant cost?" I asked as I motioned to the pendant. He smiled brightly at me again, looking down at the necklace piece.

"Yes, that's there costs around 3'180 yen." He explained, and I chocked slightly on my own breath.

"But, I don't even have close to that much with everyone else's presents." I muttered to myself, looking at the pendant again.

"I'm sorry, but that is made of a special metal like silver, its indestructible. May I ask why you wish to have it?" He asked as he looked from the pendant to me.

"Well...my boyfriend has an earring that looks exactly like this, just a bit smaller. He's kind of hard to buy for, so I thought that this was a good choice..."I trailed off as I looked away from the man at the pendant.

"I'll tell you what, I'll hold this for you in the back for a week, and you can come back to get it with the money then, but if you don't have it by then, I'm afraid I'll have to put it back on the shelf." He said and I beamed.

"Could you!? I promise, I'll have the money." I smiled, and the man nodded, before going to get the key for the case that it was in. I walked from the store, sighing. There was no way I could get the money for that pendant and also the gifts for anyone else. Spotting Tifa in the window of another store, she waved to me and I smiled back, making my way over to her. I'll think of something.

The next day, while Tifa was cleaning up the bar, and Cloud was out making deliveries, I left the 7th Heaven with my sword strapped to my back. I had spent all night trying to figure out just how I was going to get the money to buy the pendant. After it reached 1 am, I had remembered that Tifa and I passed a shop where you could trade in just about anything for money. So, I had finally come to a decision. I was going to trade in my blade.

Walking back to where we had walked, I looked around for the familiar shop, remembering that it had an old, red rusted sign. Spotting it, I quickly jogged over, glad when I realized that they were open. Pulling the door open, I stepped inside, spotting a man behind the counter, who beamed as he saw me.

"Ah, Miss. How can I help you, maybe some armour to go with that sword."

"Actually, I want to trade in my sword." I said, taking it out of the sash on my hip. His eyes bugged slightly as he watched me lift it up to show him, using only one hand. I guess you could call me a show off. Placing it on the counter, he scurried closer, looking over the polished metal in the artificial light, very dim light.

"My oh my, this is something isn't it?" He asked himself, looking at the hilt now.

"So how much could I get for it?" I asked, leaning on my elbows on the counter. There were improvements on the sword that were the numbers of my whole families ID bracelets back in the lab. I know it was weird, but I didn't want to have their names on it when I fought.

"Well, in such excellent condition, I would have to say around....5'800 yen." He said, giddy at his new find. My smile was right there on my face when I heard the price.

"Sold." I said, not giving it a second thought. He reached down and opened a locked drawer full of money, where I watched as he counted it, counting it myself as he did so just to make sure I wasn't screwed over. As he held the money out to me, he was a whole 1'000 yen short. My eyes darkened, smile fading and I brought back that depressed and killing look that I had before Cloud and AVALANCH, my eyes narrowing slightly to resemble a cats. He flinched, realizing he had been caught, and I watched him count off the remaining money.

"There you are." He said, handing it over to me. I tucked that large amount of cash into my pants pocket and nodded my thanks, frown still in place. As I turned to leave, I could hear him attempt to pick up the sword, than the loud clatter as it fell to the floor. My heart and mind told me that nothing was worth the loss of my weapon, but my body refused to turn back and hand the money over to him.

As I ran down the streets toward the store where I had seen Cloud's gift, I reached it just as the man was getting ready to close up. He saw me stop in front of the window and his lips turned into a beaming smile, before he opened the door for me.

"Back again I see."

"I got the money for the pendant." I gasped, walking over to him while attempting to catch my breath. He nodded and ushered me into the empty store, some of the lights turned off as he was about to leave for the day. He disappeared into the back, going to get the pendant, where he said that he would put it.

"Here you are my dear." Walking up to the counter, I pulled out the money given to me by the man at the other store, counting everything needed to buy the gift. Handing over the amount he asked for, he then gave me the pendant in a small glass case to help keep it safe. This time, I held it in my hand as I waved goodbye, not wanting to take any chances in losing the precious gift.


	14. A Very Mary Christmas

Sounds of Rain

Chapter 14: A Very Mary Christmas

~Cloud~

Jade and Tifa, they were the only ones left that I needed to get something for the holidays. Tifa was easy enough to buy for, she liked getting new jewellery, or something for the bar that might make work easier. Jade was a different story, she was much, much harder to buy for. Tifa's gift of light blue earrings were in my bag back on my bike, while I was walking around, searching for Jade's gift.

Jewellery just didn't seem like her, even though she had three holes in each ear, earrings just didn't seem a bother to her. She didn't wear makeup, and I had a feeling that Tifa and Yuffie were going to be the ones buying her enough clothes to fill her whole room. I thought that buying for a girlfriend was easy, but it just seemed to make it harder, you had more to worry about if you bought the wrong gift, after all, their feelings were much more important that they were when just friends.

A silver glint caught my eyes and I looked over to see a man in a shop window trying to lift a sword, with the help of two other men as well, though it was still heavy to them. I looked more closely at it and examined the sword. It looked almost identical to Jade's. She had the same material wrapped around the hilt, color and all. Walking inside the shop, I stopped at the sword.

"Ah, so someone already has their eyes on it again." The tubby man that owned the shop laughed as he walked over to where I was. He didn't even reach my shoulder, that was sad. Looking over to the sword, I looked at the top by the hilt where Jade had said she engraved the ID numbers of her family. There they were. 8712, 8713, 8714 and 8715.

"Where did you get this sword?"

"This man came in yesterday with it, saying that his father had used it in battle a long time ago, and died. It was just taking up space and he had no use for it-"

"You're lying. It was a girl that brought this in, wasn't it?" He didn't look happy at being accused of lying, but when my bright eyes narrowed slightly into furthering slits, he took a cautious step back and gulped loudly.

"Y-yea, long hair, dark clothes, her eyes were just like yours when she gave me that look." He said, trembling slightly. I continued to glare at him a moment more, before turning back to Jade's sword.

"I want it, how much?"

"If you can lift it, you can have it. I was just going to put that thing up for show, because everyone who tried to buy it weren't able to pick it up it was so heavy." The man scoffed, frowning at the sword. I reached up and took it lightly in my hand, gently twisting it in the light to see if he had done anything to it. "How do you do that?! That girl was able to pick it up without any trouble at all as well!" He yelled, his eyes bugging slightly as he looked at me, taking another step away. I didn't even think he realized he was doing it.

"Well, I guess that makes us the perfect couple." I said as he walked away from the scared man, who was left gaping at my words, heading out the door without another word. Getting to my bike, I slipped her sword in place in one of the holders on my bike. I would have to give this back to her in private. She didn't tell anyone that she had given it away, and I wanted to know why she had done so in the first place.

**~*~**

The kids were impossible to get to sleep with the excitement of it being Christmas Eve, and Tifa and Jade had to play with them for hours before they would finally get tired enough to pass out. Each taking one into our arms, Jade carried Marlene while I had Denzel and we made our way up the stairs. Tifa was left to clean up that large mess left behind from the games.

"I'm so tired, they just wouldn't stop." Jade whispered as she closed the kid's door behind her, her shoulders slumping as she sighed. "I need a hot shower, and a warm bed." she whispered to herself, causing me to laugh slightly under my breath. As she tried to walk down to her room, I took hold of her arm and pulled her into my own. She glanced at me, and then stumbled slightly when I nudged her toward my bathroom.

Her sword was hidden in my closet on the top shelf that she couldn't reach, so there were no worries about that. My eyes were drawn toward the bathroom door when I heard Jade get into the shower, and the door was left open as a silent invitation. Walking inside, the glass door was already beginning to fog up and Jade's back was to me as she ran her hands over her sore shoulders.

I was so glad that I had a large shower. Stripping down from my daily clothes, Jade didn't look over once, as I opened the door to slip inside, and then closed it again. My arms came around her as her bare back slipped against my chest, moist and slick with water. She sighed as she leaned back against me, her head resting on my shoulder as the water fell down onto us, her hands placed over top of mine.

Jade's head turned from where it was resting on my shoulder and she gently kissed my throat, then my jaw after that. Suddenly, the warm water wasn't as cool as I had thought. Knowing that she was tired from Marlene and Denzel, I moved and picked up my bottle of soap and poured some onto her hair, watching as she closed her eyes out of pure impulse, in case there was any that might get into her eyes.

Once we had both gotten cleaned up, and somewhat dried off, we both walked out of the shower, with Jade still trying to dry her long hair as best she could with a towel. Her head was bent forward and she couldn't quite see where she was walking. She was wearing nothing but a towel around her body, that only barely reached mid thigh, and she was bent forward....I was in heaven.

"Do you want some clothes, or will I be graced with this view for the rest of the night?" I whispered quietly as I leaned forward, standing behind her. She suddenly stilled, and the towel moved aside enough for me to see a blushed cheek and a mako eye.

"I would like some clothes, please." She mumbled, dropping the towel on her head and moving her hair out of her face. I leaned forward one last time and inhaled the smell of her hair, causing her to let out a low laugh. "What in the world are you doing, Cloud?"

"I like it when you smell like me." I whispered in a hoarse voice, seeing the shudder that ran down her spine and the twitch of a smile on her lips. I drew myself toward those lips and kiss them gently, causing her to smile as she pressed her lips up against mine with more force.

**~*~**

I was suddenly forced from my once pleasant sleep when a heavy weight landed on my back. I could hear Jade groan in what sounded like protest and my eyes opened to see Marlene lying on her back with a broad smile, and I didn't have to really think about it for me to realize that it must have been Denzel lying on my back. The two kids giddily jumped off of us and started bouncing on the bed.

"Come on! Come on! We want to open our presents!" They canted in unison as the continued to jump up and down happily. I looked over to Jade when I heard her groan again, seeing her hide her face with a pillow. "Come on!"

As soon as they saw we were up, they were off to wake up Tifa as well, causing us both to laugh quietly when we faintly heard her yelp of surprise. Jade pulled herself into a sitting position and stretched her arms high above her head, letting out a satisfied groan when a small pop came from her back. She was wearing an old muscle shirt that I had dug out of my closet somewhere, and one of my boxers.

"Do we have to get up?" I asked as I looked over to her with a tired smile. She chuckled as she leaned over top of me and gently kissed my forehead.

"Sorry, Cloud, but yes, we have to get up." I sighed and pretended to get up, but wrapped my arms around her at the last minute, pulling her back down into the blankets, getting a startled squeak from her. Pulling the blankets back over us, Jade wrapped her arms around my torso and pulled me down into a quick kiss.

"Just five more minutes."

"Cloud! Jade!" I sighed, it looked like just five more minutes was out of the question. We both pushed the covers aside and reluctantly removed ourselves from the comforts of the bed. Marlene and Denzel already had Tifa downstairs, who was in the kitchen, attempting to make coffee without setting the bar on fire.

"What time is it?" Jade mumbled as she looked at the clock on the wall. 5:14 A.M. That had to be a joke. Jade groaned as her head fell back against my shoulder, to which Denzel frowned with a sour pout on his face. He noticed me looking and quickly turned his attention to Marlene, who had decided to use her energy to sort everyone's presents for easier access.

"Come on, let's get this over with now, and maybe we can still get back to sleep." I whispered down into Jade's ear, who couldn't help but chuckle. Tifa called us into the kitchen, after she successfully made coffee while half dead. As Jade took hers from Tifa's tired hands, she then began to slowly make her way to the living room, where all of the presents and two overly hyper kids awaited us.

I threw myself down onto the couch, while Tifa took the chair. Jade stretched out on top of me, her head resting under my chin as we both left our half drunken coffee on the table beside the couch. I wrapped my arms around Jade and let my head rest back on the pillow. I was almost back asleep when I suddenly felt the both of us being shaken.

"Cloud! Jade! You two can't go to sleep now!"

Jumping in surprise, not expecting the sudden loud voice that rung through her ears, Jade nearly slipped off me, and would have fallen, if my arms weren't still wrapped around her. Being carefully this time, she slipped off of me and onto the floor where Marlene handed her a small box, wrapped in bright blue paper.

"This one's from me, open it! Open it!" Jade smiled to Marlene, before opening the package, making sure not to cut herself on the paper. As soon as it was open, she let out a breathy laugh.

"Thank you Marlene, I needed more of these." Marlene smiled and ran over to get another present. Jade looked back at me over her shoulder and held up a package of dark blue and navy blue hair ties and ribbons. A smile met my lips as I took one of the navy blue ribbons from the package and moved to sit directly behind her, her shoulder in between my knees. As I was pulling her hair away from her face and shoulders, gathering it into my hands, I couldn't help but feel the thrill run through me at how silky it was. Tying the bow into her hair, expert at it now, after having to help Marlene all the time, Jade looked over to the little girl.

"So, Marlene, what do you think?" She asked, turning her back to Marlene so that the little girl could see the bow.

"It matches your hair perfectly!" She clapped, running over to wrap her arms around Jade's neck, passing me a gift in the process. As I took it from her, I saw that it was much more nicely wrapped and looked at a tag on it, saying that it was from Tifa. Ripping off the paper, I pulled the top off of the box. A smile broke out as I looked over to Tifa, who couldn't stop her laughter.

I knew she must have gone through my closet at some point. There was a couple of sets of pants inside the box, some were jeans like I already wore, but others were also cargo pants. I put the box aside and watched the others as they continued to receive gifts from Marlene and Denzel, who had chosen to help her after a while.

"Here you go Jade, this one if from the whole team." Tifa said as she moved over to Jade. The kids went quiet as they watched Jade open the package. It was a small box that I recognized, remembering when Tifa had told me about what everyone was thinking of getting for Jade together. As she opened the boxes lid, she lifted out a long red ribbon, one that was identical to one that we all wore as well. The AVALANCHE group.

"But, the only people who wear these are in-"

"AVALANCHE." I cut in, taking the ribbon from her hand, lifting her left arm to tie it around her upper arm, making sure that it would stay on, but not cut off the circulation of her blood. As I finished tying it, she looked over to me, taking my hand and kissing my fingers.

"Yay Jade!" I quickly moved away to avoid getting tackled with her as the kids wrapped their arms around her neck and shoulders and pulled her to the ground. I watched Denzel as he landed on her stomach, arms around her neck and a large smile on his face. I think he actually was so happy that he forgot to be embarrassed when he was so close to her.

"Alright, let's finish up and then I can start on breakfast." Tifa said, letting the kids release the other woman. I shook my head and helped her back up, letting her sit in my lap. Though I didn't let her off entirely as I nudged her in the sides, making her burst out laughing as I hit her ticklish spot.

* * *

**A new update! Please review and tell me what you think, I also have a link here to a picture that I drew of Jade. If you could I would love for you to comment on that as well!**

**To get to the site to see Jade's pic, take out the spaces before putting into the search bar: http:// Stand - Out1919 . deviantart . com / art / Relaxed - Jade - 145099729**


	15. A Test

**Sounds Of Rain**

**Chapter 15: A Test**

**~Jade~**

While Tifa was making the kids breakfast, and said kids were doing god knows what in their room, Cloud was pulling me into his room, as I helped him to carry the rest of his things up from the living room. We had already brought all of my presents to my own room, so I didn't have to worry about those until it was time to put away the mountain of clothes on my bed. And Tifa said that the others were coming over later with more things, including Yuffie. Damn....

"You can just put those on my desk." Cloud said as soon as the door was closed. Once my arms were relieved of the weight, I lifted my hands high above my head, stretching out my arms and stomach. Strong hands suddenly gripped my hips as they came around my stomach, making me jump in surprise as I looked over my shoulder, seeing Cloud's bright eyes.

"Mary Christmas." I said, pulling the small present from the boxers I was wearing, which had shocked me when I had found out that they actually did have pockets. He raised a brow at the sudden movement, and took the box from my hands. Walking over to the bed, I laid down on my side, letting him sit down at the end of the bed.

"You going to give me a hint, or do I just open it?" He asked as he looked over to me. I grinned, shaking my head.

"Just open it."

The paper ripped away quickly, leaving only the glass case that the pendant was in. Cloud's eyes widened as he looked at into the case. Being careful, he removed the lid of the case and pulled the pendant out of the holdings. It glinted in the small amount of light that was coming through the curtains, the thick silver chain swinging around his wrist as he held the pendant between his fingers.

"This....looks expensive." He glanced over to me, and I quickly looked away. I hadn't told anyone about selling my sword, and I hadn't planned on telling him how I got the pendant. The bed shifted as Cloud got up, walking over toward the closet. I sat up on the bed and watched as he stretched to grab something on the top shelf.

My heart dropped.

He walked back out with my sword in hand, the clean metal showing no marks on it, and the engravings on it showing darker than the rest of the sword. I looked away, moving so that my legs hung off the edge of the bed and I was looking down at my lap. Cloud placed the sword across my thighs, careful of the sharp edges.

"Were you ever going to tell me you sold your own sword?" He asked, sitting next to me. I swallowed, looking over to him with regret.

"The pendant cost more than I had been expecting. I didn't have enough, and selling my sword would give me the money I needed, plus enough for everyone else. I didn't think you'd find it." I confessed, seeing his eyes widen. "How'd you get it back?"

"No one else could lift it, and the man gave it to me for free when I asked for it, as long as I could pick it up." He stated simply. I looked away again, down to my sword. I knew that it was going to cause problems, getting rid of it like I did. I felt something cool be placed in my hand, and opened my palm to see that Cloud had placed the pendant back inside.

"But Cloud-" Looking over to him, he had his back to me, but was looking over his shoulder, waiting. A smile touched my lips, before I placed my sword down onto the floor, getting onto my knees on the bed behind him. Unhooking the chain, I moved it around Cloud's neck, being sure that the wolf engraving was facing up, and snapped the hook closed again.

"Thank you, Luna. I love it." He whispered, looking back. I smiled at my first name, looking into his bright blue eyes.

"And thank you, for my sword." Kissing him gently on the lips. He pulled back, holding up his hand as he closed his eyes.

"Before I forget, something came to my mind the other day, and I was wondering if you could do something for me?" Raising an eyebrow, I let him get to his feet as I moved out of the way and watched him slip into his bathroom. Sitting back, I leaned over the bed and picked up my sword, before leaning it against the desk nearby.

"So, what exactly did you want me to do?" I asked, glancing over to the washroom as Cloud stepped into the bedroom once more, holding a box in his hand.

**~*~**

**~Tifa~**

"Jade! Cloud! Breakfast!" I called up the hall, the kids already downstairs eating. I had already called their names three times, but they didn't even make a sound. Walking up to the door, I pressed my ear against the door, but it was silent on the other end of the door. Knocking quietly, I turned to the knob, poking my head inside.

Cloud was sitting on the floor, leaning against the end of the bed. He was facing the bathroom door, which was closed. His was fidgeting slightly, watch didn't really make me feel any better, he never fidgets. Opening the door more, I stepped inside, looking down at him in worry. There was a silver wolf necklace around his neck, on top of his shirt, and I knew that Jade must have given that to him as a surprise. She had told me she had picked out Cloud's gift, but refused to tell me what it was.

"Cloud, what's wrong? Is everything alright with Jade?" I asked, looking down at him. He bit his lip hesitantly, before looking up at him.

"We'll be down in a second, alright?" I could tell that he just didn't want me there, though I understood. Clearly whatever it was, was between him and Jade and it was nothing that I could interfere with.

"Alright, I'll put yours and Jade's breakfast in the oven to keep it warm. Don't be too long, okay?" He nodded his head, and watched as I walked away, closing the door once more. Why was he staring at the bathroom door like that?

**~Jade~**

Oh, my god. I sat on the counter in the washroom, looking down at my hands. They wouldn't stop shaking. I looked over to the door, where I could hear Tifa's voice coming from the other side. Cloud spoke briefly, and I knew by the sound of his voice that he was asking her to leave. He must not have told her, because she just walked out after speaking once more briefly.

I looked back over to the small clock on the counter beside me and took in a deep breath, the wait was over. I looked over to the white stick that sat on the toilet seat, which I had just tossed there after I had read that it took five minutes to determine whether it was positive or negative, basically I had to wait for a plus or a minus to show up. Walking over to the toilet, I picked the small stick off of the lid and looked down at the image.

"A plus." I mumbled. My hand seemed to go numb as the stick slipped out of my grasp, clattering to the floor. "Oh god." Looking down at the stick on the floor, it had landed face up and there was that plus sign, still showing up at me. What was I going to tell Cloud? How would he react?

Leaning down, I picked up the stick, feeling my eyes prickle slightly with unshed tears. Walking away from the counter and toilet, I opened the door, watching as Cloud quickly got to his feet, from where he was sitting on the floor. The silver pendant around his neck swung loosely as he got up, glinting in the light.

"Luna....?" I knew that he must have seen the tears in my eyes, because his own suddenly widened as he took a step toward me.

"Cloud...I'm pregnant." His eyes moved down to the stick in my hand, that hung loosely at my side, the moved up to look at my stomach. I couldn't really tell what he thought of the situation. I was just hoping that he wasn't angry or anything. What I was not expecting, was when he suddenly pulled me into a tight embrace. "You...you're not mad?" I asked quickly, looking up at him with wide eyes.

"Mad?" He pulled away, looking down at me. "I would never be mad at you for something like....this. I love you, Jade." His words cause my mouth to drop open and the test to drop from my hand, hitting the floor once again as the clattering sound echoed in the silence of the room. I blinked in shock, and was pulled back to reality when I felt Cloud's hands gently touch my stomach.

"Cloud...I...I love you too!" Jumping up, I wrapped my arms around his neck, where he then spun me around, his arms encircling my waist to keep me up. As soon as he finished spinning me, he stopped moving and looked down at me, when I suddenly thought of something. "Wait, these tests aren't always right. We need to arrange a doctor's appointment." I started to lightly bounce on my feet, grasping his shirt, kissing him on the lips repeatedly. He chuckled in between kisses, taking hold of my shoulders.

"Okay, you need to calm down. Tifa's waiting for us downstairs. But we can't tell her anything until we know for sure." I nodded happily, still bouncing slightly. Cloud releasing my shoulders, still chuckling at my energetic actions. I couldn't help myself as I leapt up from the floor and wrapped my legs around his hips as I embraced him again, his arms once more grasping around my shoulders.

"I love you, Cloud Strife. And if I really am pregnant, I want to have your baby, as long as you want me too." I spoke into the crook of his neck, while his own face was buried in my hair.

"I love you, Luna Jade. And if you're pregnant, then I would love for you to be the mother of my child." Cloud's words made my heart race, and tears to touch my eyes. I let my legs fall from around him, touching back onto the floor as I looked up at him happily.

"Let's go get some breakfast. And then, I'm going to call and book an appointment as soon as possible." Taking hold of Cloud's shirt, I pretty much drug him out of the room, getting chuckles from the man as we walked down the hallway together.

As soon as breakfast was done, I was already on the phone, scheduling an appointment for a pregnancy test at the hospital. Lucky Tifa wasn't nearby to hear me, letting me keep it a secret between me and Cloud. I could feel the butterflies in my stomach as soon as they told me that they could fit me in on Thursday, the day before New Year's Eve.

Pretty much jumping up the stairs, taking about three at a time, I ran up to my room to get changed, dancing around slightly as I did it. I was truly hoping that the test would come back positive. I had been terrified when Cloud stepped out of the washroom with a pregnancy test in his hand, but now that the test had come back positive, and Cloud and I were alright with everything, I really wanted to be pregnant.

* * *

**There, another new chapter, hope you all liked it. But you have to review so I can post another one. No reviews, no new chapter!**

**Also, I'm taking idea's from people if they have any idea's for a CloudXOC one-shot. If you can give me an idea, I'll do my best to post it in a One-Shot, just sent it to me in a message, NOT a review, please!**


	16. Oh, How I Love You

Sounds Of Rain

Chapter 16: Oh, How I Love You

"Cloud, the hospital is only a couple of minutes away from here, I'll be fine!" I protested as I tried to move away from him as he wrapped a scarf around my neck. He had stuffed me in one of his thick winter jackets, saying that mine were to too thin. Tifa had taken the kids out to get something to eat rather than being stuck in the bar forever, so luckily she wasn't there so see the scene before her.

"If you are carrying my child, than you will not wear those thin fall coats!" Cloud finished as he pulled on his own coat. I rolled my eyes and looked down at the large trench coat that he had given me. It nearly brushed the floor and was as thick as two coats in one, the hood was large and had fur covering the inside to keep my head warm. He said that he had gotten the coat the previous year to keep himself warm when he was making some rides up the higher mountains.

"You're insane! It's not even snowing out!" I yelled as I turned to reach for the zipper, but Cloud's hands grabbed mine and began to pull me toward the door. I groaned as we came outside, some of the people on the street turning to look at us. I glared at them, silently commanding that they look away.

"You won't be complaining when you're on my bike with freezing wind whipping around you." He commented as he moved toward his bike, me following only a couple of feet behind him. Cloud sat down further back in the seat, causing me to raise an eyebrow as I stopped at his side.

"What are you doing?" I asked, looking down at him. He took my hand and pulled me onto the seat in front of him. I groaned, knowing that if I was indeed pregnant, then I would not be leaving the bar. Ever.

"You're sitting in front of me, now get comfortable." I did as told, though reluctantly as I swung my left leg over the seat, and felt Cloud scoot up closer to me, his whole back presser firmly again my own, hips meeting mine. His arms came up on either side of me, taking the handle bars as he started the bike. Reaching back one last time, my vision was blinded as he pulled the hood up over my head, keeping me warm and pretty much blinding me in the process.

"I really think you're getting a bit out of hand." I mumbled, right before the bike shot forward, causing my back to slam against his chest, nearly winding me. He seemed just as nervous and excited as I was to get to the hospital for the test. My hands slammed down onto his thighs, taken by surprise at the sudden speed, and dug my nails through his jeans.

"Ease up, we're not going that fast." Cloud said as he gently kissed my cheek that was exposed past the large hood. I did as he said and released my nails from his thighs, but kept my hand on his legs, watching the road as it passed by. As soon as we reached the hospital, Cloud let me walk myself toward the doorway, but then was at my side in moments as soon as I was through the door.

We had apparently gotten there right on time and I was lead to a room right away, while Cloud was told to wait in the waiting room, much to his displeasure. I looked back at him as I walked, seeing as he leaned against the wall, watching me as I walked away. He really didn't like having me go on my own. And it wasn't exactly to my good taste either.

Sitting on the table, I was waiting for the doctor to come back with the results of the test. I had asked him if I could have Cloud come in, but he said that he would just be a minute and there was no time for Cloud to come. That was over 10 minutes ago, and now I was getting pissed off. I was really thinking of killing that man, because I really wanted Cloud to be here when I got the news of the baby, or whether there even was one.

"Luna?" I looked up, seeing when Cloud stepped through the door. My eyes lit up, slipping from the table as I ran up to him, pulling him into a hug. He returned the embrace before he once more set me on the metal on the examining table. I sat with him standing right between my knees, his hands placed on my thighs as I placed my forehead against his. "I was getting worried, they said that it wouldn't take that long."

"The doctor wouldn't let me go and get you, and now he's taking forever to come back with the results." I groaned, leaning against him as he moved his arms to wrap them around my waist gently.

"Well, I'll go get him if I have to." I laughed breathily as I leaned against more him, resting my head on his shoulders. The familiar warmth of his skin calmed down my beating heart, his sent filling my senses as I inhaled. I could feel the tension in his muscles and knew that he was definitely nervous of the outcome of this test. I closed my eyes carefully as I leaned my forehead more heavily against Cloud's. Just as it seemed the tension in the room might have made the both of us explode, the door opened and the doctor stepped in.

"Excuse me, but who are you?" He asked, looking offended.

"He's my boyfriend, and _may_ be a father." I snapped back, quirking an eyebrow at him, bringing my forehead away from Cloud to glare at the older man. He seemed taken aback from the outburst, but I never looked away from him as he held my gaze. Cloud looked over to him, and I could see the doctor tense when he saw Cloud's annoyed mako eyes land on him.

"Well?" He asked, turning to face him more fully, though he kept himself between my knees.

"Uh..." The man quickly snapped from his shock as he opened the file in his hands. I began to fidget, causing Cloud to take my hands in his to still them. "The tests came back positive. You're indeed pregnant." He said out quickly, before he nodded a good-bye and walked from the room in what could only be explained as a quick getaway.

I was left to sit on the table, and Cloud placed my hands on my stomach, his own overtop of mine. My heart began to race as I looked into his bright blue eyes. He let out that genuine smile, that was always just mine to see. Moving my hands from under his, I wrapped them around his neck, my legs coming around his hips as he lifted me off of the table, his arms tight around my waist. We seemed to embrace like that quite often lately, but I can not say that I will ever complain. Just the feel of Cloud so intimately pressed against me, I felt shivers at his touch alone.

"We're going to have a baby. I'm having your baby." I mumbled into his shoulder, my arms tightening around his neck. At this moment, I was so much more aware of how my stomach was pressed against his then I ever would have been before. As Cloud gently began to release my waist, I unhooked my ankles from behind his back and had my feet touch the ground.

"We should be getting back now." Cloud whispered, once we were facing each other once more. I nodded, not able to keep the smile from my lips. He was still smiling as well, his blue eyes seeming to glow more than usual from the mako. I couldn't help myself as I suddenly cupped his face, pulling him down into a kiss. It was quick, but showed love as he pulled away again moments later.

As we were walking from the room, I snatched Cloud's coat from the counter I had placed it on and walked out with Cloud, his arms around my waist protectively. As we reached the entrance, he let me put the coat on, forcing the hood up over my eyes once more, once he saw that it was beginning to snow, and tightened the scarf around my neck, though made sure that I could still breathe.

"Hey! Where'd you two go? What are you wearing?" Tifa pointed at my coat, or, Cloud's coat. I just rolled my eyes as I walked toward the stairs toward Cloud's room. I knew that Tifa was following me with her eyes, and I could hear Cloud's boots clunking on the floor as he followed me personally.

Pulling off the coat and scarf, I was relieved that the heat that had been pretty much strangling me was gone, as I walked up to stairs toward the room. Walking up to my door, I only got about a foot toward it before a strong arm came around my waist and pulled me away, causing me gasp in surprise.

"You're going to be staying in my room from now on." Cloud's voice whispered quietly in my ear, his chin coming to rest gently on my shoulder. I sighed and looked back at him, raising an eyebrow.

"What, do you think I'm going to do something wrong within the short amount of time I spend in my room." I mumbled, causing him to let out a breathy chuckle. I loved the sound of it, and was glad that he let me hear it, and me alone.

"No, I just can't stand to have you away from me, when I could be holding you in my arms." I couldn't help the smile as I lifted one of my arms up to wrap around his neck, brushing his cheek with mine as I smiled. I could have sworn that I heard him purr, a soft vibrating against my back. Cloud's hands came to rest on my stomach as he gently kissed my cheek, before moving it down to gently kiss my neck. The soft feel of his lips sent a shudder through me, a smile perking up my lips.

"You're going soft." I mumbled quietly, feeling the chuckle that vibrated through his chest. Placing my hands over top of his, I leaned back against his shoulder as I let out a peaceful sigh. His warmth surrounded me, his hold keeping me secure and safe against him.

"Cloud...when will we tell the others...?" I asked carefully as I felt, with both our hands, my stomach. Cloud let out a sigh, the warm heat of it smoothing over my skin. I knew that he was as clueless concerning the others as I was. His arms gently tugged me from my reverie as he walked me toward his room. Stepping inside, I only then noticed how tired I actually was.

Cloud lead me to the bed, letting me sit down on the comfortable mattress as he kneeled in front of me to help remove my boots. The coat and scarf I had been holding over my arm were abandoned on the chair, where my shoes and socks soon joined them. Next, he tugged on my pant legs, sliding them clean off of me without even having me stand up. Once I was left in only my shirt and underwear, I was nearly asleep where I sat.

"You need your rest, Luna." Cloud whispered gently in my ear as he helped me to lay down, pulling the covers out from under me. I let myself curl into the warmth of the blankets, the large pillows enveloping me. Cloud's lips ghosted over my temple, then my cheek, and finally my lips, before the heat of his body was pulling away. His voice was distant as sleep overcame me, "Sleep well."

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**Sorry is this chapter soon a while, I've been busy lately. Hope that you like it, don't forget to review! Merry Christmas!(even though it's already passed) And a Happy New Year!**


	17. Shall We Tell?

**Sounds Of Rain**

**Chapter 17:**

**Shall We Tell?**

I woke up to the sounds of small child's voices yelling loudly outside the door, feeling the warmth of a body next to mine. Cloud was yet to awake at the sounds of the kids screaming outside of our door, clearly in a fight over something. It was the day of New Years Eve, and the rest of the group was coming over for the celebrations. Tifa was only god knows were, probably preparing something for the group to drink and eat when they came. That woman needed a hobby, or a boyfriend.

The sounds quickly cut off as I sighed in relief, before I was disturbed by a disgusting lurching in my stomach. Quickly tossing the covers aside on top of Cloud, not really giving him a second thought at that moment, I took off toward the bathroom. The door slammed behind me, and I knew that if the sudden weight on him hadn't caused him to wake, then the loud _bang_ would have. As I ran to the toilet, I quickly leaned over the dish as burning acid forced up my throat.

I vaguely heard the bathroom door open once again, Cloud's heavy footfalls approaching me. My hair was pulled back from my face, keeping the disgusting mess of my stomach off the strands. As soon as I was sure that there was nothing left in my system, I sat back on the floor, breathing deeply. The stomach acid was still burning my throat, the strong bitter taste of vomit on my tongue.

Cloud must have known as he helped to pull me up to my feet, guiding me to the sink to allow me to wash out my mouth and wipe off my face. He stood by me the whole time, running his hands through my hair and caressing my shoulders and back in soothing motions. As soon as I finished brushing my teeth and cleaning off the rest of my face, I turned to look at him.

"I have a feeling this will become routine." I mumbled grudgingly. Cloud gave me a look of sympathy as he pulled me into a tight embrace, my head coming under his chin as he wrapped his arms tightly around my shoulders, messaging my shoulders. I sighed, before taking in a deep breath of his heavy sent.

A knock on the door startled us into reality.

"Are you guys alright; I thought I heard the door slam!" Tifa called through the door, her voice full of worry. I groaned silently as I fell to sit on the lid of the toilet, which Cloud had flushed and closed whilst I was cleaning out my mouth.

"We're alright, but Luna may have gotten a stomach flu." Cloud said as he looked to me for confirmation. We still were reluctant to tell the others until the timing was proper. And if I can only eat certain things and am always running to the bathroom, then I would need a valid excuse. I nodded tiredly, spinning my hand in a 'continue' motion.

"Are you alright, do you need anything? I could bring you up some water." Tifa's voice seemed somewhat relieved but still worried at the same time. Perhaps she had thought Cloud and I were in an argument and I had stormed away from him?

"That would be wonderful Tifa." I called back; my voice cracking, before hearing as she walked away, the bedroom door closing behind her. I closed my eyes and let my forehead fall against the cool surface of the counter top. Cloud's lips gently kissed my temple as his hand ran soothingly up and down my thigh, the gesture not sexual, but comforting.

"You have a shower, I'll go and help Tifa make you something that you can keep down, alright?" I nodded, my body still tired from only just waking. "You should stay in bed until you feel well enough to come down, I'll bring you your food." I nodded once more, feeling as he kissed my temple a second time, giving my knee a gentle squeeze. But I was taken off guard, expecting him to leave then, when he suddenly kneeled down and pressed a soft kiss to the exposed skin of my mid section.

"Cloud..." I didn't protest, but as I looked down at him in wonder, I was shocked to see his face look as serene as it did as he kneeled before me, hands on my hips, lips against the nonexistent baby bump. His mako eyes were closed, his blond hair in disarray, baggy sleeping clothes creased and wrinkled.

"I love you, and the baby. I'll do anything to keep both of you safe, and healthy." Cloud looked up then, his eyes meeting mine. A smile broke out onto my face as I nodded happily to him, reaching out to run my fingers through his bangs, pushing them away from his face to allow me to look at him properly. He kissed just above my belly button once again, before getting up to his feet, standing before me.

"Thank you, Cloud." I whispered quietly, making sure not to ruin the moment between the both of us. "For everything." He let me see that beautiful smile of his, leaning forward to place a gentle kiss on my forehead, before kissing the crown of my head as well. I smiled to him, running my hand over his cheek. He leaned into the touch, pressing his lips against my palm gently as he turned his head.

"You should get back to bed soon; I'll go and help Tifa." I nodded, letting him kiss my temple one last time in comfort before he exited the bathroom to get dressed for the day. I sighed, leaning back against the back of the toilet. I really wanted a shower right now.

Brushing through the thick knots in my hair, I looked at my complexion in the mirror. I looked a bit paler the usual, but that was only because I had been dumping my guts into the toilet. Walking out the door with nothing but a towel wrapping around my body, I stepped out into the cooled bedroom. Walking to Cloud's closet, I poked my head inside to look around for something to wear. A pair of his boxers caught my eye, as well as an old, open necked top. Pulling them on quickly, I pretty much dove into the bed to warm myself up.

As soon as I finished wrapping myself in the blankets, the door opened slowly and Cloud stepped through with a plate in his hand. I smiled at the sight of him, and the food in his hand. Gladly, the nausea was passed, and now my empty stomach was begging to be filled, if only for a little while. The smell of something sweet reached my nose as Cloud approached the bed, sitting on the edge as he turned on the bedside lamp.

"Tifa wasn't too sure what to make, so she just made some sandwich quarters and got you some plain crackers." I nodded, looking over the plate of food. Just small quarters of what looked like tuna sandwiches, and a small pile of crackers, not sweetened or salted. "How are you feeling?"

"The nausea's gone, but I'm really tired. I just hope that I'm good enough for Mid-Night tonight." I smiled, looking into his mako eyes. He nodded, a small quark of his lips showing he fought a smile. "Has anyone arrived yet? Dare I ask, has Yuffie come yet?" Cloud let out a breathy chuckle at my choice of words, before shaking his head.

"No, Yuffie's not here yet, but Barrett should be here soon. Marlene's really excited to see him again so soon after Christmas dinner." I nodded, taking one of the crackers off of the plate to munch on it. Cloud watched as I nibbled hesitantly on the food, before relaxing when I began to eat the sandwiches.

"Should we tell everyone tonight?" I looked to him from the corner of my eye, where he looked down at his lap to try and think about it. As he thought, I ate the rest of the sandwiches, glad to have something in my stomach that wouldn't decide it wanted to make a comeback. As soon as I ate as much as I knew I could, only a few crackers left on the plate, I reached over Cloud and placed it on the nightstand; the movement drawing him from his thoughts. Gently taking hold of his arms, I pulled him to lay down on the bed with me, facing each other as we shared a pillow.

"Tonight." He finally agreed, wrapping an arm around my waist, pulling me up against his body gently. I smiled, turning to tuck my head under his chin as I curled into his body heat, pulling the covered tiredly over him. His lips brushed over my hair, his hands rubbing soothing strokes over my back. "I love you, Luna."

~Cloud~

Stepping down the stairs, I looked back at Jade, who was tiredly stepping behind me, her eyes nearly closed. Stopping halfway down the stairs, I made sure she didn't trip while walking down. As soon as she was at my side, she looked up at me and smiled, before taking my arm and beginning to pull me down toward the front bar, where the rest of the team was already waiting.

"Yuffie's been asking where you are since she got here." I whispered, not wanting her to get surprised by her when she entered the room. She groaned quietly, her shoulders slumping as I chuckled. She sent a pouting look in my direction, before turning to meet up with the others.

"Hey Jade!" Marlene called from where she sat on a stool next to Barrett, Denzel on her other side. Jade smiled to them, walking over to greet Barrett with a careful hug. "Are you feeling better?" Of course Tifa had told the children that Jade was sick. She just smiled and nodded.

"Yes, thank you, Marlene." The little girl let out a beaming smile, before turning back to Barrett, telling him everything that had happened between Christmas and today. Jade was heading back over to where Tifa and I were standing at the counter; I couldn't seem to look away from her stomach. As she came to my side, I couldn't help but pull her up against me, wrapping an arm around her waist as she lay her head on my shoulder, sighing against my neck. I fought back the large smirk that was threatening to break loose at the warm feel.

"How are you feeling?" Tifa asked as she looked over to Jade, who pulled herself from my body only enough so that she was able to speak clearly with Tifa. She was smiling, her long hair brushing her cheeks, as she had not bothered to put it up.

"Much better, thank you so much for the food, I was really hungry after not having anything in my stomach. And it didn't make it worse, so that's a lifesaver." Tifa smiled, taking in her words of praise. Marlene called Tifa over so that she could play a game, while Jade and I simply watched, leaning back and relaxing into one another. My hands moved to her stomach out of instinct, holding her against me as my hands covered her abdomen.

"I can't wait to see how everyone reacts." Jade mumbled, leaning her head back against my shoulder as she looked up at me, turning to look at her as well, I nodded, with a small smile. It would be interesting to see just how every took the news. I know that Yuffie would scream, that was an easy guess, and Tifa would probably be so motherly to Jade after she hears the news. I just hope that the kids don't need to be explained the whole "where does a baby come from" theory.

"It will be something to see." I finally said, leaning forward to place a chaste kiss on her lips, before the sound of Yuffie loud voice coming our way causing us both to change our train of thought to 'how to avoid a ninja'.

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**I'm sorry for not having this chapter out sooner, but I had been working on other stories as well. Hope that this was worth the wait, the next chapter's almost finished, and when it is posted all depends on how many reviews I get for this chapter! But no flames, that'll just make me hold it off longer.**


	18. Change Our Lives

Sounds Of Rain

Chapter 18: Change Our Lives

I looked over the people that were crowded into the bar, the AVALANCHE gang. I, too, wore the red ribbon around my left arm now. Cloud had tied it securely around my bicep before we left the bedroom to head downstairs. The man hadn't left my side since the group had begun arriving, but I don't think that many of them noticed. Of course Yuffie did right away, but that was no surprise when it came to her. In her world, mine and Cloud's relationship was the biggest thing at the moment.

"It's almost mid-night, when do you plan to tell everyone?" I asked quietly from where I sat at one of the tables near the window, while Cloud sat across from me. He held my hand under the table, his thumb running smoothly over the back of my palm.

"After mid-night, that way it doesn't get in the way of everyone else's excitement." I nodded, leaning forward to meet him halfway in a quick kiss. I could hear Yuffie squeal happily and a bright flash passed over us. Looking up, she quickly darted out of the bar area and up the stairs with the digital camera. Looking over to Cloud, I couldn't fight back the smirk from coming to my face.

"That's going to come back to bite us later on, I just know it." I whispered, before leaning in to another kiss. Cloud's free hand came to cup my cheek, tilting my head just slightly so that he could part my lips with his own. This was actually pretty shocking for Cloud to do, at least in public. Whenever we were around people, Cloud would always keep things small, leaving the really affectionate things for when we were alone.

~Tifa~

"If you think about it, this is kind of weird to see." Cid said as he looked over to the couple in the corner. Cloud didn't seem to care in the least that all of the guys were looking at him and Jade, and with him kissing her, I don't even think Jade noticed anything.

"You'll get used to it." I smiled, glancing over to the two lovers. They had pulled apart, and Cloud was letting Jade rest her head against the palm of his hand now, stroking her cheek. If you looked close enough, you would easily notice that there was a ghost of a smile on Cloud face.

"It's just _so_ cute." Yuffie gushed as she lifted the camera to eye level again. I placed my hand over the camera, lowering it back down. Yuffie looked at me with a pout, her lower lip jutting out.

"That won't work on me Yuffie. I live with two kids, remember? Besides, Cloud and Jade are just getting comfortable around people. We don't want to ruin that by embarrassing them with pictures of them being affectionate." Her pout disappeared as she sighed, seeing reason in my actions.

"Fine. But I'm going to keep the one of them kissing, I'm going to print it, and Cloud will be getting it framed for his birthday." I laughed, nodding in agreement. That was actually a good idea. Cloud had pictures on his desk of everyone, the group, the family. All, but, him and Jade. It was about time someone fixed that, though I hadn't thought that it would be Yuffie.

"Just five minutes until New Years." Barrett said as he looked over to the clock above the kitchen door. I nodded, seeing that he was right. Glancing over to Jade and Cloud, I saw that they were getting up from their corner, moving to join all of the others. Cloud stood almost protectively at Jade's side as they walked; his hand on the small of her back.

"Almost time, huh?" She asked, smiling. I nodded, before glancing to Cloud in wonder. He was looking down at Jade, his eyes on her smiling face, while his was monotone. I wonder how Jade could get used to that. I know that he showed emotion while they were alone, but I would find it hard for him to continue to act emotionless while around others as well.

"Where're the kids?" Cloud asked, breaking my train of thought.

"Oh, they're in the living room watching some television right now. We should go get them soon to count down the seconds for the New Years though." Cloud and Jade both nodded in agreement, while Barrett got up from his seat so that he could go and retrieve Marlene. Turning to look at the couple once more, I smiled, catching Jade off guard. "So, who wants a drink?"

"No thanks, I don't exactly know what I can stomach right now, so I'll just stick to water." Jade said, lifting her glass of water. I nodded, turning to Cloud instead. He looked away from Jade long enough to ask for a beer, before turning his attention to her once again. "Alright, that's it, why the heck are you looking over her like a guard dog?" I finally snapped.

"What?" Jade asked, looking up in shock at me.

"Oh, don't give me that. Ever since you two came down stairs, Cloud hasn't left your side. Even when you went to the bathroom a couple of minutes ago, he followed you like a puppy. And now, he won't stop staring at you!" I didn't want to draw attention to us all, so I kept my voice low and even. Jade face became more and more flushed as I spoke, and I could have sworn Cloud flinched at the part where I said they were going to the bathroom together. Wait, that's it! "If you want to screw each other that bad, wait until everyone leaves."

Jade dropped her glass as she stared at me in shock, Cloud catching it as it slipped through her fingers. Her mouth was hanging open as she continued to look at me, while Cloud coughed to clear his throat. The sound did nothing to draw Jade form her shock, that I took as a clue that I was right. They had been acting all cute and affectionate, but as soon as they were alone, it was a little less cute and a little more passionate. Cloud coughed again, before wrapping an arm around Jade's shoulders and began to turn her away.

"Our apologies, Tifa.

"It's no problem!" I smiled, watching as Cloud led Jade over to one of the tables that everyone was going to be gathering at to watch the seconds pass.

~Cloud~

"Cloud, we have to set things straight! She thinks we're a couple of horny teenagers!" Jade snapped as she fought against me while I tried to get her to sit down. Finally giving up with keeping her in her own seat, and not running over to Tifa and blurting out that she was pregnant, I sat down and pulled her into my own lap. Wrapping my arms around her, it was like around grips keeping her down.

"Stay calm. In less than 10 minutes, we can tell them the news, and Tifa won't think that anymore because she will then know the real reason for our actions." She finally seemed to think it over, relaxing against me when she came to her decision. Glad that she finally stopped fighting, I buried my face in the crook of her neck, nuzzling the skin gently. Her ticklish side kicked in and her whole body shook as she held in her laughter.

"Alright, but I will not let her think that about us." She laughed, pulling on my hair so that I was forced to look up at her. With a simple nod, we both returned out attention to the clock. Just three more minutes.

"Here you go, Cloud." Looking up, Tifa held out the beer that I had asked for. I placed a hand over Jade mouth when she jumped to speak, silencing her. She looked at us like we were slightly insane, but said nothing as I took the beer from her hands, nodding my thanks.

"Jade, keep quiet." I muttered, placing the cold beer against the back of her neck. She jumped and squealed at the cold contact with her flushed skin. Yuffie looked over to us with a large smile, the camera still in her hands. Tifa really shouldn't have gotten her that. "Just a few more minutes. If you keep acting out, she's only going to keep getting worse idea's of who we are or what we act like to one another."

"Fine!" She finally threw her arms up, pouting. Deciding that I really didn't like when she pouted, I leaned forward and nipped the skin on the side of her neck, causing her to yelp quietly, jumping slightly as her back went ramrod straight. She looked back at me and let out a small pout, her lower lip curling out. The look of it was too much as I leaned forward and took her lips in between my teeth gently, before pressing my lips against hers in a kiss.

"One more minute!" Marlene cheered happily from where she was sitting on Barrett's shoulders. I pulled away from Jade, leaving her dazed as she sat on my lap with a grin plastered on her face. As I let her get to her feet, be walked over to join the rest of the group, everyone holding a drink in their hand. Jade's small glass of water looked so plain compared to all of the different drinks in everyone's hands.

"Just one more minute, Jade." I whispered in her ear, getting a nod from her as she looked at the clock eagerly. Tifa looked over at us with a slight scowl, as though telling us to wait until after to attack one another. Good thing Jade didn't see it or she might have blurted it out right then and there.

"10...9...8...7...6...5...4...3...2...1-"

"Happy New Year!" Everyone in the bar yelled at once as we raised our glasses toasting to mid-night. Taking a drink from their glasses, Marlene and Denzel were both still cheering and clapping to the new-year, another already passed. But instead of drinking, I pulled Jade up and pressed my lips against her own in a kiss. I could hear as Cid hooted and Yuffie took another picture, but didn't care. As I pulled away, Jade looked over to me with an excited look, and I knew that she was having trouble containing herself. If she kept up the light hopping she was doing, she was going to make herself sick again.

"Just wait until everyone calms down." I whispered once more, trying to stop her from bouncing as I had done when we first found out she might have been pregnant. She did her best to stop herself from bouncing, and instead hugged Marlene and Denzel, wishing them a happy New Year. Denzel face flamed from over her shoulder as she hugged him, looking anywhere but Jade. Marlene just giggled happily as she hugged her back.

"Alright, now it's time for everyone to say one thing that they are going to change about themselves in the new year!" Tifa interrupter and everyone sat down at one of the large tables in the room, crowding together. Jade sat down on my lap as we placed our drinks on the table, waiting for Tifa to speak. She sat to my left, and we were going around the table in the opposite direction of Jade and I, much to Jade's annoyance; because we were last.

One by one, everyone told what they were going to change or do differently. Jade was beginning to bounce on my lap again when it was Barrett's turn to speak, who was sitting on the opposite side of us as Tifa. As soon as he finished, Jade was hiding her face in my neck to try and hide the huge smile on her face. Nudging her in the side when Barrett finished, she quickly controlled herself and took a calming breath.

"Cloud and I actually have the same thing so say, though, it's not really something we want to do differently. But it will definitely change our lives." Jade began, smiling once more. I could see that everyone leaned forward slightly, anticipating what she was going to say next. Yuffie was looking at us with a large grin, as though she was thinking of all the things that may come out next. Jade looked over her shoulder at me, still smiling. At the same time, we told everyone the news.

"We're going to be having a baby."

In the next instant, Jade was pulled from my lap and I was tugged into a large hug by Barrett, getting pats on my back from everyone. Jade was engulfed in a huge hug between Tifa and Yuffie, who were both gushing over the changes that was going to happen, and how happy they were for the both of us. Cid kept ruffling my hair and saying "He's finally become a man", while Marlene was clapping happily talking about a baby sister and Denzel looked dazed.

When I got my chance, I pulled from the guys hold and stole Jade away from Yuffie and Tifa. She wrapped her arms around my neck and buried her face in my shoulder. She was crying from joy. I didn't fight the smile that came to my lips as I hugged her back, lifting her off the ground to spin her around. A camera flash went off again, but I didn't care, Yuffie could take all the picture she wanted, I was happy.

"So that's why you were following her around all night, huh?" Tifa asked with a grin, and Jade laughed into my shirt as her voice crack in tears. I nodded, still smiling, before I hid my face in her shoulder to try and calm her down. When she pulled away, she quickly wiped her tears away and smiled at me, silently saying she was alright now. As soon as we parted, Jade was getting her congrats from the guys, while Tifa pulled me into a hug.

"You're going to do great, Cloud." She promised, patting me on the back. Hugging her back, Yuffie whined about being neglected. Tifa laughed as we pulled apart and she held an arm out for her to join in the hug. Jumping into our arms, she wrapped one arm around my neck, while the other was around Tifa's, pressing all three of our foreheads together.


End file.
